Nutritional Characteristics of Forage Grown in South of Benin

Abstract

In order to provide recommendations on the most useful forage species to smallholder farmers, eleven grass and eleven legume forages grown in Abomey-Calavi in Republic of Benin were investigated for nutritive value (i.e. chemical composition and energy content) and fermentation characteristics (i.e. gas and volatile fatty acid production, organic matter degradability). The in vitro gas production technique was used, incubating the forages for 120 h under anaerobic condition with buffalo rumen fluid. Compared to legume, tropical grass forages showed lower energy (8.07 vs 10.57 MJ/kg dry matter [DM]) and crude protein level (16.10% vs 19.91% DM) and higher cell wall content (neutral detergent fiber: 63.8% vs 40.45% DM), respectively. In grass forages, the chemical composition showed a quite high crude protein content; the in vitro degradability was slightly lower than the range of tropical pasture. The woody legumes were richer in protein and energy and lower in structural carbohydrates than herbaceous plants, however, their in vitro results are influenced by the presence of complex compounds (i.e. tannins). Significant correlations were found between chemical composition and in vitro fermentation characteristics. The in vitro gas production method appears to be a suitable technique for the evaluation of the nutritive value of forages in developing countries.

In vitro gas production kinetics and degradability of a diet for growing lambs: effect of fibrolytic enzyme products at different dose levels

“…Musco et al (2016) reported negative significant correlations between content of NDF in grass and in vitro organic matter degradability (r ¼ À0.70) and fermentation rate of GP (r ¼ À0.70). The fermentation of high concentrate diets, in ruminal fluid is generally enzyme-limited.…”

Comparison of nutritional and antinutritional traits among different species (Lupinus albus L., Lupinus luteus L., Lupinus angustifolius L.) and varieties of lupin seeds

“…Short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs, m m /g incubated OM) were measured (Cutrignelli et al., ) by gas chromatography (model. 8000 top; ThermoQuest Italia SpA, Rodano, Milan, Italy); ammonia (NH 3 , m m /g incubated OM) was determined according to the colorimetric method (Musco et al., ).…”

“…dietary fibre, alkaloid and fatty acid profile) and the in vitro gas production (IVGP) of 12 sweet lupin varieties, grown in the Mediterranean basin and belonging to three lupin species. The use of the IVGP technique (IVGPT) is largely used in ruminant nutrition to estimate the feed nutritive value and study their fermentation kinetics (Musco et al., ). Recently, IVGPT was employed in pig studies (Bauer et al., ; Musco et al., ) to characterize the gut fermentation of different carbohydrate fractions, replacing rumen liquid by caecal or faecal material.…”

Assessment of Stress Tolerance, Productivity, and Forage Quality in T1 Transgenic Alfalfa Co-overexpressing ZxNHX and ZxVP1-1 from Zygophyllum xanthoxylum

“…Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nutritive value of a potential breeding material before developing it into the new forage cultivar. In this study, the contents of CP and CF, which are important nutritive indicators (Musco et al, 2016), showed higher in T 1 transgenic alfalfa than in WT under salinity, drought, low-Pi ( Table 1 ) and field conditions ( Figure 5 ). This may be due to enhanced stress tolerance in transgenic alfalfa, which protects intracellular biochemical synthesis from harsh environments (Zhu, 2001; Flowers et al, 2015).…”

“…Higher quality is one of most important objectives for forage breeding, since forage quality affects animal’s growth and development, as well as the yield and quality of animal products (Yu et al, 2013; Musco et al, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nutritive value of a potential breeding material before developing it into the new forage cultivar.…”