The Effect of Drying Methods on Water-Soluble Carbohydrates and Crude Protein Concentrations and Their Ratio in Two Perennial Ryegrass Cultivars

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the joint effect of perennial ryegrass cultivars and drying methods on concentrations of water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) and crude protein (CP) and WSC/CP ratio. AberMagic AR1 and Expo AR1 forage were collected in December 2016, March, June, September and November 2017 and either oven-dried at 60 °C for 48 h (OD_60), at 80 °C for 16 h (OD_80), frozen at −80 °C for 48 h then freeze-dried (−80_FD), or flash-frozen with liquid N then freeze-dried (LN_FD). Data were analyzed by ANOVA in a factorial design with cultivar and drying method as factors. AberMagic AR1 had between 9.0 to 31.5% higher WSC concentration than Expo AR1 in the four samplings. Freeze-drying preserved more WSC than oven-drying treatments (+22.7%), particularly in June. The CP concentration of Expo AR1 was higher only in December (+6.8%), and was 22.9 and 10.9% higher in OD_60 samples compared to LN_FD samples in December and November, respectively. The WSC/CP ratio varied in June, being greater in AberMagic AR1 (+36.1%). Drying method affected WSC/CP ratio in December, June and November where freeze-drying produced greater ratios. Drying techniques generated differences in WSC, CP and WSC/CP ratio, which may affect the accuracy of the estimated impacts of forages on productivity and N use efficiency.

Performance and enteric methane emissions from housed beef cattle fed silage produced on pastures with different forage profiles

“…From previous literature, AberMagic has shown a greater WSC and CP concentration in the fresh forage when compared with other ryegrass cultivars (Chen et al, 2016;Moscoso et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2020). In the present experiment, the WSC concentration of the standing forage before being cut for silage was numerically higher for RG-WC and MRG compared to PP (Supplementary Table S3).…”

Milk Production, Milk Quality, and Behaviour of Dairy Cows Grazing on Swards with Low and High Water-Soluble Carbohydrates Content in Autumn: A Pilot Trial

“…A study performed in Chile evaluating HSG and standard PRG cultivars submitted to contrasting agronomic management systems (applying the same N fertilisation rates and defoliation frequencies as the present study) reported no consistent expression of the "high-sugar" trait [10]. Another study carried out in similar climate conditions as the current work did not show an expression of the high-sugar trait in diploid PRG cultivars selected for high WSC content defoliated at the stage of three leaves per tiller [27].…”

In Vitro Fermentation Patterns and Methane Output of Perennial Ryegrass Differing in Water-Soluble Carbohydrate and Nitrogen Concentrations

“…However, it must be noted that the current LS treatment was not ‘low sugar’ and, in comparison with other studies investigating high sugar grasses, was higher than most high sugar treatments [ 42 ]. The fact that, after harvesting, the samples were immediately frozen in the field and further freeze-dried could have reduced WSC losses due to respiration [ 43 , 44 ]. In the case of the LS cultivar (Extreme), the high WSC in spring may be due to its phenological stage, as it begins flowering earlier than the HS cultivar (Expo), and therefore increases its WSC [ 14 ].…”