Protein and carbohydrate fractionation of Jiggs Bermudagrass in different seasons and under intermittent grazing by Holstein cows

Abstract

Jiggs bermudagrass has presented competitive production potential over other forages. However, there is a lack of information about the nutritional value of this forage with important relevance in ruminant nutrition. This study aimed to evaluate the protein and carbohydrate fractionation of Jiggs bermudagrass in different seasons of the year under intermittent grazing by Holstein cows. The experiment was conducted during one year in a completely randomized design with nine replications and treatments consisted of the effect of four seasons: fall, winter, spring and summer. The results showed that there were seasonal variations in the fractions of proteins and carbohydrate, with the exception of the protein fraction B3. The better climatic conditions in spring and summer contributed to an increase in the protein fraction A and carbohydrate A+B1. The winter had a greater fraction C of protein and carbohydrate, reflecting the nutritive value of the forage. The use of irrigation during fall and winter had a positive effect on nitrogen fractions B1 and B2 and on non-fiber carbohydrates.

Dwarf and Tall Elephantgrass Genotypes under Irrigation as Forage Sources for Ruminants: Herbage Accumulation and Nutritive Value

“…Resistant tissues present in the stems support plant structures (e.g., leaves and inflorescences), especially under greater water supply. Greater content of fraction C, however, contributes to reducing potentially degradable fiber fraction, positively affecting animal intake by the rumen filling effect [ 40 ]. In our study, presence of water contributed to faster plant growth and consequently increased C.…”

“…Fiber accounts for most of the total carbohydrates contained in forage grasses [40], and elephantgrass is considered one of the best ruminant feed sources in warm climates [42]. Carbohydrate fractionation of various tropical grasses was evaluated by [34].…”

Potential alternative feed sources for ruminant feeding from the biodiesel production chain by-products

“…The protein fraction A in CNCPS, which was previously classified as non-protein nitrogen, was reclassified as ammonia for ease and availability of analysis and to provide a better prediction of the contribution of metabolizable protein of free amino acids and small peptides. According to Brandstetter et al (2019), fraction A is essential for a good rumen function, since the structural carbohydrate rumen fermentation microorganisms use ammonia as a nitrogen source.…”

Chemical and Mineral Composition, Kinetics of Degradation and in vitro Gas Production of Native Cactus

“…In foods where this fraction is significant, its evaluation is fundamental, since the amount effectively degraded in the rumen is a direct function of the passage rate, that is, it will depend on the degradation rate/passage rate ratio. However, it is extensively ruminally degraded, contributing to microbial nitrogen requirements in this compartment (Chrenková et al, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2018;Brandstetter et al, 2019). Although the amount of nitrogen in cacti is low, over 50% of the N present in the species evaluated are available for use by ruminal microorganisms, especially C. jamacaru and M. bahiensis, which presented an availability of N above 70%, as they are components of the fractions A, B1+B2 and B3 (Table 3).…”

“…Variation in carbohydrate fraction C content was not considered high, and according to Neumann et al, (2017) and Brandstetter et al, (2019) are significant differences in this fraction among forage species, since this fraction interferes with ruminal repletion, causing a lower energy availability due to its indigestible characteristic, as it results in lower food consumption in unit time. Plants with high levels of this fraction interfere with the animal food intake, so this forage should be supplemented with energy sources of rapid rumen availability (Mendoza et al, 2014), when it does not have protein limitation in quantity and quality.…”