Absorption of sugars by the piglet

Abstract

1. Diets containing various sugar mixtures together with polyethylene glycol of high molecular weight as a marker were fed to pigs 1, 2 and 3 weeks old. The piglets were slaughtered 2.5 h later, and the ratio of sugar to marker was determined in the contents of the alimentary tract as far as the caecum.2. The greatest fall was found in the first part of the small intestine.3. Glucose had always disappeared by the third quarter of the small intestine.4. Xylose and fructose disappeared more slowly, especially in the younger pigs, but were usually absent from the contents of the last quarter of the small intestine.5. Sucrose was removed far less completely, and the ratio of sucrose to marker frequently did not decrease along the second half of the small intestine. Sucrose was removed much less efficiently when it formed 15% of the diet than when it formed only 5%, and much less efficiently by the younger than by the older pigs.