ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to directly detect the sensitivity and responses of various chemical functional groups to the two different heating methods in tissues of the three types of cereal grains and their correlation to the nutrient utilization and availability in ruminants. The first hypothesis: the sensitivity and responses of functional groups can be detected by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) as well as Synchrotron Radiation Infrared Microspectroscopy (SR-IMS). Second hypothesis: different functional groups in cereal grain tissues respond differently to the heating methods. The last hypothesis: heat-induced structural changes are highly related to the nutrient availability of cereal grains in ruminants. In comparison with results found by the ATR-FTIR technique, less and weaker correlation was discovered between the heat-induced structural changes and the nutrient availability in the endosperm area of cereal grains in ruminants by the SR-IMS technique.
