VT reduces muscle soreness and IL6. It may stimulate lymphocyte and neutrophil responses and may be a useful modality in treating muscle inflammation.

The extractable, protein‐bound and fibre‐bound condensed tannin (CT) concentrations in the leaves of tropical legumes grown in both Colombia and Northern Australia were determined by the butanol–HCl method, whilst extractable CT was also determined by the vanillin–HCl method. With the exception of Senna siameaall species contained CT. The very high CT concentration found in many plants growing in Colombia may have been partly due to soil fertility being much lower at the Colombian than the Northern Australian site.Acacia boliviana,Arachis pintoi,Centrosema latidens,Senna velutinaandGliricidia sepiumcontained <55 g total CT kg−1 DM, which suggests that they could comprise a reasonable proportion of ruminant diets. All other species grown in South America contained 100–240 g CT kg−1 DM, which suggests that they should only be fed in small amounts as supplements to dilute the CT concentration.Leucaenaspecies andCalliandra calothyrsusgrown in Northern Australia contained intermediate concentrations of total CT (60–90 g kg−1 DM). Most species contained 70–95% of total CT as extractable CT, with the exception ofFlemingia macrophylla, where 60% was extractable and 40% bound, andGliricidia sepium, where almost all the CT was bound to protein. Values forFlemingia macrophylladiffered between accessions. Extractable CT determined with vanillin–HCl was generally higher than extractable CT determined with butanol–HCl. Three accessions showed negligible (<1 g kg−1 DM) extractable CT with butanol–HCl but 10–12 g extractable CT kg−1 DM with vanillin–HCl. Two accessions showed undetectable levels of extractable CT but substantial levels of protein‐bound CT, illustrating the importance of using a bound CT method for identifying forages containing CT. Relative to freeze drying, oven drying ofLeucaenaspecies reduced the concentration of extractable CT and increased concentrations of bound CT. The significance of the results for the nutrition of ruminant livestock are discussed, including the possible roles of protein‐bound and fibre‐bound CT.

A series of in vitro experiments was undertaken to determine the extent to which Sephadex LH‐20 treated extracts from a range of temperate forages precipitated ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) and affected the enzymatic hydrolysis of Rubisco protein by trypsin and chymotrypsin at a range of pH values. Rubisco was chosen because it represents the principal dietary protein for ruminants fed fresh forages. Condensed tannins (CT) or proanthocyanidins (PA) are routinely purified by chromatography using Sephadex LH‐20 as a matrix. However, these extracts contained non‐CT phenolics together with PA so the term ‘CT extract’ was preferred to ‘PA’ to describe the extracts. The in vitro precipitation of Rubisco provided a means to compare the reactivity of the CT extracts. The amount of CT extract required to precipitate all the Rubisco in 10 μg of total soluble leaf protein from white clover (Trifolium repens) when this protein was incubated with CT extracts of Lotus corniculatus, L pedunculatus and sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) was similar, with between 25 and 50 μg of extract required. The CT extract of sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) also precipitated all the Rubisco, however this only occurred with 50 μg of the extract. The CT extract of dock (Rumex obtusifolius) precipitated all the Rubisco when 5 μg of extract or greater was incubated with total soluble leaf protein. However, the differences between the reactivity of all these CT extracts at a range of pH values appeared to be small. Condensed tannin extracts of L corniculatus and L pedunculatus partially inhibited the hydrolysis of Rubisco by trypsin and chymotrypsin to a similar extent, but the extent of the inhibition was affected by pH. The inhibition was greater at pH 6·0 than 7·0, whilst at pH 8·0, CT extracts had little or no affect on trypsin and chymotrypsin. It was concluded that, although the precipitation of Rubisco provided an ideal method for comparing CT extracts, reactivity alone was unlikely to account for the differences in nutritive value that occur with forages containing CT. © 1998 SCI.

A series of subtropical grasses and temperate grasses, herbs and legumes were analysed for the presence of extractable and bound condensed tannin (CT) using colorimetric analysis by the butanol–HCl method. Condensed tannins are routinely purified using affinity chromatography with Sephadex LH‐20 as a matrix. Therefore, Sephadex LH‐20 extracts were further analysed for the presence of CT by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, for anthocyanidin formation after butanol–HCl treatment and for their ability to precipitate ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) protein from lucerne, at pH 7·0. Criteria for the presence or absence of CT were defined. Trace amounts of CT (0·2–2·5 g kg−1 dry matter; DM) were identified and confirmed in summer grass (Digiteria sanguinalis), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and red clover (Trifolium pretense), with chicory (Chicorium intybus), lucerne (Medicago sativa) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata) identified as probably containing CT. It was concluded that the subtropical grasses kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum), paspalum (Paspalum diatatum), smooth witchgrass (Panicum dichotomiflorum) and crowfoot (Eleusine indica) and the temperate grass, Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus) probably did not contain CT. Analysis of the extractable fractions by vanillin–HCl gave higher values for CT than analysis by butanol–HCl and wrongly identified some forages as containing trace levels of CT. It was concluded that vanillin–HCl was not specific enough for the detection of trace levels of CT in forages. These results raise the possibility of plant selection programmes to increase the level of CT in grazed forages to approximately 5 g kg−1 DM, the suggested minimum level required to prevent bloat in cattle and to increase wool growth in sheep. It is suggested that this be considered for perennial ryegrass, chicory, red clover and lucerne.

Poultry feathers, consisting largely of keratin, are a low-value product of the poultry industry. The safety and digestibility of a dietary protein produced from keratin (KER) was compared to a cysteine-supplemented casein-based diet in a growing rat model for four weeks. KER proved to be an effective substitute for casein at 50% of the total dietary protein, with no changes in the rats’ food intake, weight gain, organ weight, bone mineral density, white blood cell counts, liver glutathione, or blood glutathione. Inclusion of KER in the diet reduced total protein digestibility from 94% to 86% but significantly increased total dietary cysteine uptake and subsequent liver taurine levels. The KER diet also significantly increased caecum weight and significantly decreased fat digestibility, resulting in a lower proportion of body fat, and induced a significant increase in blood haemoglobin. KER is therefore a safe and suitable protein substitute for casein, and the cysteic acid in keratin is metabolised to maintain normal liver and blood glutathione levels.