Chemical Composition of Saline Sources as Suppliers of Minerals for Ruminants

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the mineral composition of solid residues (SR) from desalination waste (DWSR), saline water (SWSR) and aquaculture ponds (APSR), and to discuss the results based on ruminant requirements. Mineral determined were K, P, Ca, Mg, S, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Na, Cl, Ni, Pb, Cd and Cr, from 24 samples, 4 DWSR, 10 SWSR and 10 APSR, with three replicates. Desalination waste solid residue, SWSR and APSR had large variation of minerals. Saline water solid residue and DWSR presented potential to be used as source of Na and Cl, while the APSR can contribute Ca. All examined saline sources were poor in P, Ca and trace minerals except the APSR, showing a considerable concentration of Ca. Some samples of SWSR and APSR presented mineral concentrations that may be potentially toxic to ruminants.

Ingestive Behavior of Santa Inês Sheep Under Thermoneutrality and Thermal Stress Upon Consumption of Saline Water

“…The difficulty in obtaining good-quality water has intensified the demand of saline water for small ruminants to drink (Moura et al, 2016;Mdletshe et al, 2017;Paiva et al, 2017;Albuquerque et al, 2020), which characterizes a recurrent scenario in arid and semiarid regions wherein water may have salt levels above the recommended levels for domestic animals (Manera et al, 2016;Melo et al, 2017). Sheep such as those of the Santa Inês breed have excellent water restriction capability (Silva et al, 2016) and can consume forages that are chemically composed of high salt concentrations (Fahmy et al, 2010;Khanum et al, 2010;Moreno et al, 2015) and water with high salt levels (Yousfi et al, 2016;Castro et al, 2017;Furtado et al, 2020).…”