Fig. 4. In vitro ruminal degradability of cell wall polysaccharide component sugars after 24- (a, c) and 96-h (b, d) incubations for maize stem internodes, averaged across three hybrids, as influenced by stage of development. The arrow located between the fifth and sixth sampling dates represents the approximate time when elongation of the internodes ceased. Least significant difference values (P < 0.05) for 24- and 96-h degradability, respectively, were glucose = 55, 48; xylose = 128, 81; uronic acids = 37, 30; arabinose = 41, 42; galactose = 54, 41; mannose = 48, 19. Ara, arabinose; Gal, galactose; Glc, glucose; Man, mannose; UA, uronic acids; Xyl, xylose.