Growth inhibition of chicks on rations containing corn grits

Abstract

It has been shown in previous studies (Krehl et al. 1945a, b) that corn or corn grits when added to a nicotinic acid low ration markedly inhibited the growth of rats and that this deleterious effect was completely counteracted by the addition of either nicotinic acid or tryptophane to the diet. Further, in studies with dogs, it was found that the animal's requirement for nicotinic acid was considerably increased when corn grits was present in the purified ration (Krehl et al. 1945c). It was therefore of interest to determine whether corn grits exerted a similar effect in other species particularly in chicks. The chick requires a dietary source of nicotinic acid for optimal growth and for the prevention of chick blacktongue; a minimum level of 1.8 mg. per 100 gm. of ration is needed for this purpose (Briggs et al. 1942). In this paper, results are presented to show that.