Utiliza？？o dos componentes da cera das plantas, em especial os n-alcanos, em estudos de nutri？？o de ruminantes

the indirect methods used to estimate the intake and digestibility of feedstuffs by ruminants are very important because these methods represent an economy of time, money and work, in relation to conventional trials. also, they permit estimates in grazing conditions. among these methods, the faecal markers stand out and lots of substances have been used. this paper is a review about the use of n-alkanes as markers in ruminant nutrition studies.