A large range exists in the digestible energy (DE) content of grains such as barley, field peas and wheat. The variability in DE content of wheat was described in the 1993 Annual Report, and equations to predict DE content were developed based on basic chemical characteristics. The specific objective of this study is to relate DE content of the same wheat samples with the non-starch polysaccharide content. The DE ranged from 3330 to 3645 kcal/kg (90% DM); thus, the difference in DE content between the highest and lowest value was 9%. Of the analysed chemical characteristics, xylose, a non0starch polysaccharide (NSP), had the highest correlation with DE, and was thus the single best predictor for DE content. The results indicated