Available carbohydrate was determined by difference.
1991) in New York total dietary fiber and macronutrient content were determined in Toronto by AOAC methods for fat, protein and fiber (AOAC 1980, Prosky et al. Twenty-six samples of leaves, stems and vines, and five fruit from different plant species, the most common foods eaten by gorillas, were then analyzed for neutral detergent fiber (NDF ) 4 and acid detergent fiber (ADF ) ( Van Soest et al. Samples of identified foods were collected, oven dried in the field, packaged and shipped to the Wildlife Conservation Society (New York, NY) and ground through a 20-mesh screen (2 mm) in a Wiley mill. Study site for food consumption by lowland gorillas in Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, Central African Republic. Until in-depth comparison of the remains collected from fecal samples with properly identified herbarium samples can be made, many of these observations from fecal material will remain tentative. Identification of all plant vouchers is being undertaken by the Missouri Botanical Gardens and Kew Gardens. Vouchers of each item were stored in polyethylene bags, labeled and compared with herbarium vouchers of each species. No attempt was made to quantify the volume of foods ingested by extrapolation from fecal remains. Fruit, seeds and hulls, leaf fragments, fibers, stems, bark and vines and invertebrate remains could be identified. Later this information was entered into a computer and assessed using the Paradox data base program (Borland International, Scotts Valley, CA). All identifiable components of each sample were separated, given an Aka name if known, listed in a notebook, and saved as voucher specimens. Each sample was sorted through by one investigator (R.W.C.) and a team of two to five Aka botanists. Gorilla fecal samples were collected from nest sites and feeding trails throughout the study area, placed in polyethylene bags and labeled.
Identification of foods eaten was based on standard methods, a combination of direct observation and fecal analysis ( Goodall 1977, Moreno-Black 1978). It has also been estimated that the great apes differ in genetic makeup by 200 species and varieties of vegetation and 100 species and varieties of fruit. Anatomically, the digestive tracts of humans and great apes are very similar ( Stevens and Hume 1995). Such knowledge may be valuable in understanding human dietary requirements. We believe that an understanding of the diets eaten by the great apes might provide insights into the diet eaten by a common ancestor, which thus influenced the evolution of the human genome. 1990, Tutin and Fernandez 1993, Watts 1984), no attempt has been made to express their macronutrient intakes in terms that allow comparison with human diets. Western lowland gorilla, dietary fiber, short-chain fatty acids, dietary evolution, coronary heart disease, cancerĪlthough much is known of the chemical composition of foods eaten by the great apes ( Rogers et al. Both the nutrient and fiber components of such a diet and the functional capacity of the hominoid colon may have important dietary implications for contemporary human health. The macronutrient and fiber profile of the gorilla diet is one in which the colon is likely to play a major role in overall nutrition. We suggest that humans also evolved consuming similar high foliage, high fiber diets, which were low in fat and dietary cholesterol. Gorillas would therefore obtain considerable energy through fiber fermentation. The macronutrient profile of this diet would be as follows: 2.5% energy as fat, 24.3% protein, 15.8% available carbohydrate, with potentially 57.3% of metabolizable energy from short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) derived from colonic fermentation of fiber. Assuming that the macronutrient profile of these foods was reflective of the whole gorilla diet and that dietary fiber contributed 6.28 kJ/g (1.5 kcal/g), then the gorilla diet would provide 810 kJ (194 kcal) metabolizable energy per 100 g dry weight. The mean macronutrient concentrations were (mean ± SD, g/100 g dry basis) fat 0.5 ± 0.4, protein 11.8 ± 8.2, available carbohydrate 7.7 ± 6.3 and dietary fiber 74.0 ± 12.9. Thirty-one of the most commonly consumed foods were collected and dried locally before shipping for macronutrient and fiber analysis. Gorillas in the Central African Republic were identified as consuming over 200 species and varieties of plants and 100 species and varieties of fruit. We studied the western lowland gorilla diet as a possible model for human nutrient requirements with implications for colonic function.