Chemical Composition and In Situ Degradability of Desmanthus spp. Forage Harvested at Different Maturity Stages

Abstract

This study evaluated the change in nutritive value and in situ degradability of Desmanthus spp. (desmanthus) cultivars JCU2; D. virgatus, JCU4; D. bicornutus and JCU7; D. leptophyllus harvested at varying maturity stages to test the hypothesis that the nutritive value and in situ degradability of desmanthus differ between cultivars and with maturity stage at harvest. In Experiment 1, desmanthus was harvested at 11, 38, 72 and 103 days of regrowth (maturity), separated into the leaf and stem portion, dried and analysed for dry matter (DM) and chemical composition. In Experiment 2, desmanthus was harvested 78, 122 and 168 days after planting (maturity). Samples were dried, and DM, crude protein (CP) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) degradation were determined using the in situ technique with three fistulated Droughtmaster steers. The results showed an interaction between cultivar and maturity on the leaf to stem mass ratio, leaf CP, stem NDF and the leaf ADF (p ≤ 0.04). The leaf-to-stem mass ratio declined more steeply with maturity in JCU7 compared to JCU2 and JCU4 (p = 0.04), while there was a higher decline in leaf CP of JCU4 than JCU2 and JCU7 (p < 0.01). The total potentially degradable fraction of DM and CP did not differ between cultivars (p ≥ 0.30) but declined with maturity (p ≤ 0.04). However, the effective DM degradability at a high particle outflow rate was higher in JCU4 than in JCU7. Taken together, these results indicate that differences exist between cultivars, and higher livestock production may be achieved by utilising the different cultivars in a blend and at earlier maturity stages. Therefore, the hypothesis that nutritive value and in situ degradability of desmanthus differ between cultivars and with maturity stage at harvest was accepted.

Biomass and Leaf Nutrition Contents of Selected Grass and Legume Species in High Altitude Rangelands of Kashmir Himalaya Valley (Jammu & Kashmir), India

“…Sampling was performed during July which means that the studied grasses and legumes were at their harvest stage [ 28 ]. This simulates that their nutrient richness may have started to decline [ 29 ]. On the other hand, Hao and He [ 30 ] outlined an increased biomass yield once a nutrient loss occurs.…”

Nutrición animal: Texto de formación universitaria

“…Modelo no lineal para la estimación de la degradación de proteína cruda Nota. a es la intersección de la curva en 0 h que representa la fracción altamente soluble; b es la asíntota que representa la fracción potencialmente degradable; c es la constante de velocidad fraccionaria para la degradación de b (Mwangi et al, 2022).…”

Evaluation of nutritional values of tree-forage legume leaves from Gunungkidul District, Indonesia

“…These can be due to differences in the plants' environment and the age of Indigofera plants used as samples. Mwangi et al (2022) stated that differences in plant age would give differences in the value of soluble chemical components. Therefore, with the increase of plant maturity, the value of the rumen's soluble and rapidly degraded fraction will decrease due to the increasing number of insoluble fractions such as plant cell wall components.…”