Koalas' Food Eucalyptus has Lower Nutritional

The Eucalyptus leaves have very lower nutritional value for koalas. In fact; the Eucalyptus leaves have no nutritional value what so ever for koalas and it is just a miracle that an animal like koala can live by eating it during its entire lifespan. First of all, the Eucalyptus leaves are indigestible but somehow koalas can digest them. Secondly; the Eucalyptus leaves contain phenols which are known to kill animals. Third; the Eucalyptus leaves have little or no energy for any animal to fulfill day to day energy requirements of koalas.

Even though the eucalyptus leaves have lower nutritional value for koalas yet still they survive by eating it during their entire lifespan.

Surprisingly; koalas avoid all these negatives of eucalyptus and somehow survive on the Eucalyptus diet throughout their entire lifespan. This article highlights and measures the nutritional value of the Eucalyptus leaves for koalas and reveals the ability of koalas to live a life out of Eucalyptus against all limitations.

The Eucalyptus leaves contain water, fiber, tannins, phenolics, starch, sugars, Lipid and proteins etc. The best part about the Eucalyptus leaves is that they are 55 percent water which is one of the highest concentrations of water content among various species of plants with leaves.

On the positive side, the Eucalyptus leaves are 55 percent water which 100 percent fulfill the water requirements of koalas.

This presence of 55 percent concentration of water compound within the Eucalyptus leaves 100 percent fulfill the thirst requirements of koalas and koalas don't even need to drink water from the water holes. Even the word koala also means “No Water” because the aboriginal Australian people used to believe that the animal never drinks water.

The Eucalyptus leaves also contain high concentrations of fiber for koalas. Fiber comprises of 15 percent of the total Eucalyptus leaf contents. It is believed that the fiber within the Eucalyptus leaves is 6 times more than a normal muesli bread. However; the Eucalyptus fiber for koalas contains much lesser amount of energy as compared to the muesli bread.

The Eucalyptus leaves have higher concentrates of fiber which quickly fill the koalas' stomach but offer little amount of food energy for them.

Another draw back of higher fiber contents within the Eucalyptus leaves is that they quickly fill the stomach of koalas. Therefore; koalas can't eat the Eucalyptus leaves in large quantities. Even worst; the digestion of this higher lignified fiber content is rather time consuming and difficult to digest.

The third key component within Eucalyptus leaves for koalas includes carbohydrates. Carbohydrates constitute about 7% of the total leaf contents within Eucalyptus. Carbohydrates are considered as the first source of energy to the body. The Eucalyptus carbohydrates include starch and sugar. When koalas eat the Eucalyptus leaves, they absorb most of the starch and sugar contents within their stomach.

Eucalyptus leaves comprise of about 7% of carbohydrates in the form of starch and sugar. This quantity is very low to produce significant amount of energy for koalas.

However; this absorption process is relatively slow because the koalas' diet comprises of high concentrates of fiber which slow down the transfer of the sugar into their bloodstream. Lastly; 7% starch and sugar contents are extremely low and they produce very little amount of energy for koalas. Even worst; koalas can't intake more carbohydrates by eating more large quantities of Eucalyptus leaves because of high fiber contents.

The Eucalyptus leaves also contain 13 percent of tannins and phenols. Tannins are known to decrease the food efficiency and net energy through metabolism. They also decrease the digestibility and food efficiency as well. On the other hand; phenols are not known either to produce any body energy but rather they are considered highly toxic for the cells.

The Eucalyptus leaves comprise of 13 percent of tannins and phenols which are not responsible for any nutritional value or body energy either.

Therefore; the presence of phenols and tannins (13 %) within the Eucalyptus leaves are not the encouraging signs of nutritional value for koalas either. Similarly; the presence of strong scented oils is quite also dominant within the Eucalyptus leaves and these oils are known to become cyanide compounds during the metabolic conversion.

Lastly; the Eucalyptus leaves contain 6 percent lipids (fatty acids) and 4 percent protein. Lipids and proteins are known to provide reasonable and necessary nutritional value to the body of an organism. Furthermore; lipids and proteins are responsible for tissue development within organisms. However; just the 6% concentration of lipids and 4% concentration of proteins are very low to provide energy and nutritional value to any animal including koalas.

Eucalyptus leaves contain just 6% fats and 4% proteins which are not enough to fulfill the energy and nutritional requirements of any animal. Somehow koalas live on them by adopting a sluggish and sleepy lifestyle.

However; koalas live on this meager nutritional value by lowering their body metabolism, adopting sluggish & sloth-like lifestyle and sleeping for more than 20 hours per day. This allows koalas to conserve their body energy and live on a diet that contains lower amount of energy and lower nutritional value.