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Since starch digestion in the small intestine provides more energy than digestion in the rumen of ruminants, reducing dietary rumen degradable starch (RDS) content is beneficial for improving energy utilization of starch in ruminants. The present study tested whether the reduction of rumen degradable starch by restricting dietary corn processing for growing goats could improve growth performance, and further investigated the possible underlying mechanism. In this study, twenty-four 12-wk-old goats were selected and randomly allocated to receive either a high RDS diet (HRDS, crushed corn-based concentrate, the mean of particle sizes of corn grain = 1.64 mm, n = 12) or a low RDS diet (LRDS, non-processed corn-based concentrate, the mean of particle sizes of corn grain >8 mm, n = 12). Growth performance, carcass traits, plasma biochemical indices, gene expression of glucose and amino acid transporters, and protein expression of the AMPK-mTOR pathway were measured. Compared to the HRDS, LRDS tended to increase the average daily gain (ADG, P = 0.054) and decreased the feed-to-gain ratio (F/G, P |
