Besides cellulose and xylan, mannan is one kind of hemicellulose that is most widely distributed and takes the major part which exists in the botanical feed ingredients. β-mannan has been found greatly in the natural world. β-mannan belongs to the non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), which is the main component of seed type plant, it takes the major part in palm kernel meal, coconut meal, and sesame meal and can be found greatly in other botanical feed ingredients. The contents of mannan in the common used feed ingredients and the percentage of mannan in NSP was shown in table 1 and table 2.

 

Table 1. Contents of β-Mannan in Feed Ingredients

 

Ingredients	Contents of β-mannan (DM %)
Palm kernel meal	30-35
Coconut meal	25-30
Soybean husk	10-12
Sesame meal	2.8-3.5
Soybean meal (44%)	1.5-1.7
Soybean meal (48%)	1.2-1.3
Rapeseed meal	0.49
Cottonseed meal	0.36
Peanut meal	0.51
Sunflower cake	0.57
Rice bran	0.32
Wheat	0.10
Wheat bran	0.07
Corn	0.09
Sorghum	0.09
Barley	0.49

             Table 2. Contents of β-Mannan in Non-Starch Polysaccharides (NSP) in Some Feed Ingredients 

Ingredients	Contents of mannan in non-starch polysaccharides (%)
Corn	11.7
Soybean meal	22.7
Wheat	11.9
Rapeseed meal	19.6
Bran husk	33.7
Sorghum	12.2

It is shown in table 1 and table 2 that the percentage of β-mannan in palm kernel meal and coconut meal is about 30%; meanwhile, there is a high percentage of β-mannan in sesame meal and soybean meal, too. These ingredients, especially the soybean meal, are the main source of feed protein as well as the necessary ingredients of feed. β-mannan is the major part of anti-digestive viscous polysaccharides in corn-soybean meal diet. The mannan fraction in NSP of corn and soybean are 11.7% and 22.7%, respectively.