Seasonal trends of macro and micro minerals in 10 browse species that grow in northeastern Mexico

Adjusting homestead feeding to requirements and nutrient intake of grazing goats on semi-arid, subtropical highland pastures

“…While N concentrations were highest in the rainy season (July to September), Ca concentrations and Ca : P ratios of the foliage increased in February and April 2008 after three to five months with less than 5 mm of rainfall. Similar changes in the nutritional quality in response to rainfall were also reported by Ramírez et al (2006) for ligneous plants on Mexican limestone pastures. In combination with the low ME and P concentrations as well as the wide Ca : P ratios of the fodder consumed by goats on pasture, the seasonal changes in the available herbaceous biomass (Dickhoefer et al, 2010) and the nutritional quality of ligneous foliage might thus limit animal growth and production.…”

“…However, ME concentrations in the natural vegetation of the Ethiopian pastures were much higher than those of the browse foliage, herbs and grasses sampled in our study. Moreover, P concentrations and Ca : P ratios of .20 : 1 of the foliage of the most browse species were within the range of values determined for tree and shrub foliage on semi-arid, calcareous rangelands in Northeastern Mexico, where P supply to goats was deficient in all seasons of the year (Ramírez et al, 2006). N and P concentrations were highest in the ligneous fodder species and were together with the ME concentrations higher in species growing on the mountain slopes and in the valleys than in fodder species growing on the plateau areas at 2000 m a.s.l..…”

“…Nutritional quality of the pasture vegetation The low nutritional quality of the natural vegetation on arid and semi-arid mountain ranges is widely limiting the productivity of grazing livestock (Ramírez et al, 2006;Ben Salem and Smith, 2008) and much research was therefore dedicated to improve the animals' nutrition by an adequate energy and nutrient supply. Low CP concentrations of the rangeland vegetation may reduce the digestibilities of diets consumed by grazing ruminants and the supply of a protein-rich concentrate mixture can therefore increase total DM intakes of animals (Ben Salem and Smith, 2008).…”

“…Moreover, nutrient and energy requirements of animals grazing on semi-arid highland pastures are high, because they walk long distances searching for fodder (Lachica and Aguilera, 2005;Schlecht et al, 2009). The low nutritive value of most pasture plants as well as seasonal changes in the biomass yields and in the nutritional quality of the rangeland vegetation can therefore strongly limit the growth and production of grazing livestock (Ramírez et al, 2006;Dickhoefer et al, 2010). Hence, many authors have recommended the conversion of pastoral systems to zero-grazing systems in order to improve animal production and to conserve the natural rangeland vegetation (Zaibet et al, 2004;Mahgoub et al, 2005).…”

Nutrient composition of cultivated stevia leaves and the influence of polyphenols and plant pigments on sensory and antioxidant properties of leaf extracts

“…K may leach from leaves during rain or be withdrawn from leaves which are either senescing or not under active growth. K accumulation during warmer seasons has been reported in diverse species (Yuehua von fi rcks et al , Ramirez et al 2006. Ca has been reported to accumulate in winter in diverse species like olives and rhododendron (Fernandez-escobar et al 1999, Gary et al 2006.…”