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Asian Journal of Crop Science

Year: 2016 | Volume: 8 | Issue: 3 | Page No.: 96-102
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Authors

Heba Sabry Attia Salama

Ali Issa Nawar

Keywords

Research Article

Variations of the Cell Wall Components of Multi-cut Forage Legumes, Grasses and Legume-grass Binary Mixtures Grown in Egypt

Heba Sabry Attia Salama and Ali Issa Nawar
Background: The cell wall components are considered among the most important determinants of forage quality and its effect on the animal’s performance. It is therefore, important to investigate the response of the different forage grasses, legumes and their mixtures at successive cuttings in terms of their cell wall components under the different agricultural systems. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out in the summer seasons of 2012 and 2013 in the experimental station of the Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt. The main aim was to analyze the response of cell wall components, namely Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL), cellulose and hemicellulose of legume, grass and legume-grass forage groups to three successive cuttings. Results: Results revealed that the amount of the tested cell wall components of the three forage groups increased with the successive cuttings following a linear trend, however, this increase was more pronounced in case of the ADF and cellulose contents. The difference between the 1st and 3rd cuts amounted to 3.9, 3.3, 0.3 and 3.0% for NDF, ADF, ADL and cellulose contents, respectively. Grasses, in general were superior to the other two forage groups in NDF, ADF and cellulose contents with a content that amounted to 643.05, 374.91 and 345.86 g kg–1 for the three respective components. On the other hand, forage legumes produced the highest amount of lignin (39.73 g kg–1). Conclusion: The amounts of the different cell wall components and the rates by which they increased among the three successive cuttings were less in case of forage mixtures than forage grasses, indicating better nutritional value for livestock in Egypt in the summer season.
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