Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-k7p5g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T01:42:32.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Differences between twelve forage species in physical breakdown when eaten

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

E. J. Mtengeti ,
D. Wilman  and
G. Moseley
E. J. Mtengeti
Affiliation:
Welsh Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3DD, UK
D. Wilman
Affiliation:
Welsh Institute of Rural Studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3DD, UK
G. Moseley
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 3EB, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The effectiveness of chewing by sheep during eating in breaking a forage diet into particles was studied in twelve plant species over 2 years and related to the physical structure of the plants and their rate of intake. The twelve species were: Trifolium repens L., Medicago sativa L., Onobrychis viciifolia Scop., Desmodium intortum (Mill.) Urb., Brassica napus L., Spergula arvensis L., Lolium perenne L., Lolium multiflorum Lam., Festuca arundinacea Schreb., Chloris gayana Kunth, Cenchrus ciliaris L. and Zea mays L. In each case early harvesting was compared with later harvesting. The plants were grown in a heated glasshouse.

L. perenne and L. multiflorum were broken into a large number of particles per g dry matter; the particles were rather long and thin. F. arundinacea was broken into heavier, slightly shorter and slightly wider particles. C. gayana and C. ciliaris were broken into particles which were smaller, heavier and contained more vascular bundles than those of Lolium, reflecting the lower rate of intake, greater weight per unit area of leaf blade and greater proximity of bundles of the tropical grasses. Z. mays leaf blades broke into shorter, wider particles than the leaf blades of the other grasses, reflecting the much wider blades of Z. mays.

The leaflets of the four leguminous species and the leaf blades of B. napus were broken into particles with an average length:width ratio of c. 2:1, compared with an average ratio of c. 7:1 for particles derived from grass leaf blades other than those of Z. mays. The legume leaf petioles were broken into particles with an average length: width ratio of c. 13:1; many of the legume petioles were not split longitudinally during chewing. The stems of M. saliva and D. intortum were broken into particles similar in length and width to those from the stems of the tropical grasses, although the rate of intake of the legume diets was at least twice that of the tropical grass diets. The average length: width ratio of particles from B. napus petioles and stems was 5:1. A high proportion of particles from the B. napus and D. intortum diets had a rough surface. 5. arvensis was broken into more particles per g dry matter than the legumes and B. napus, despite its very high rate of intake. Many pieces of stem of S. arvensis were not split longitudinally during chewing.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 126 , Issue 3 , May 1996 , pp. 287 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Balch, C. C. & Campling, R. C. (1962). Regulation of voluntary food intake in ruminants. Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews 32, 669–686.Google ScholarPubMed
Campling, R. C. (1984). Lucerne, red clover and other forage legumes: feeding value and animal production. In Forage Legumes (Ed. Thomson, D. J.), pp. 140–146. Occasional Symposium No. 16, British Grassland Society. Hurley: British Grassland Society.Google Scholar
Jarrige, R. (Ed.) (1989). Ruminant Nutrition: Recommended Allowances and Feed Tables. London: John Libbey and Co Ltd.Google Scholar
Minson, D. J., Harris, C. E., Raymond, W. F. & Milford, R. (1964). The digestibility and voluntary intake of S22 and H.1 ryegrass, S170 tall fescue, S48 timothy, S215 meadow fescue and Germinal cocksfoot. Journal of the British Grassland Society 19, 298–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moseley, G. (1982). The role of physical breakdown in controlling the nutritive quality of forages. Report for 1981, Welsh Plant Breeding Station, Aberystwyth, pp. 167–182.Google Scholar
Mtengeti, E. J., Wilman, D. & Moseley, G. (1995). Physical structure of white clover, rape, spurrey and perennial ryegrass in relation to rate of intake by sheep, chewing activity and particle breakdown. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 125, 43–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ulyatt, M. J., Dellow, D. W., John, A., Reid, C. S. W. & Waghorn, G. C. (1986). Contribution of chewing during eating and rumination to the clearance of digesta from the ruminoreticulum. In Control of Digestion and Metabolism in Ruminants (Eds Milligan, L. P., Grovum, W. L. & Dobson, A.), pp. 498–515. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Wilman, D. & Mohamed, A. A. (1981). Response to nitrogen application and interval between harvests in five grasses. 2. Leaf development. Fertilizer Research 2, 3–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilman, D., Mtengeti, E. J. & Moseley, G. (1996). Physical structure of twelve forage species in relation to rate of intake by sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 126, 277–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. R. (1993). Organization of forage plant tissues. In Forage Cell Wall Structure and Digestibility (Eds Jung, H. G., Buxton, D. R., Hatfield, R. D. & Ralph, J.), pp. 1–32. Madison, Wisconsin: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. R. (1994). Cell wall characteristics in relation to forage digestion by ruminants. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 122, 173–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. R., McLeod, M. N. & Minson, D. J. (1989 a). Particle size reduction of the leaves of a tropical and a temperate grass by cattle. I. Effect of chewing during eating and varying times of digestion. Grass and Forage Science 44, 55–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, J. R., Akin, D. E., McLeod, M. N. & Minson, D. J. (1989 b). Particle size reduction of the leaves of a tropical and a temperate grass by cattle. II. Relation of anatomical structure to the process of leaf breakdown through chewing and digestion. Grass and Forage Science 44, 65–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar