Title: Nutritional evaluation and in vitro ruminal fermentation of Sorghum cultivars
Abstract:There are several types of Sorghum such as grain type, forage type, sudangrass and sorghum-sudangrass hybrid. Feeding values including chemical composition and rumen degradability characteristics woul...There are several types of Sorghum such as grain type, forage type, sudangrass and sorghum-sudangrass hybrid. Feeding values including chemical composition and rumen degradability characteristics would be varied among these different types. The objectives of this study were to determine the chemical composition, in vitro rumen degradability, gas production (GP) and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration among various varieties of Sorghum plants. Twenty-two cultivars of Sorghum consisted of three forage sorghum, two grain sorghum [S. bicolor (L.) Moench], two sudangrass [S. sudanense Stapf], and 15 sorghum-sudangrass hybrids were grown and harvested at 88 days after planting. Significant difference in dry matter yield was observed and ranged from 46.1 to 146 g plant -1 DM. The crude protein (CP) content averaged 57.9 g kg -1 DM, contents of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ranged from 531 to 750 g kg -1 DM, acid detergent fiber (ADF) ranged from 250 to 411 g kg -1 DM, acid detergent lignin (ADL) ranged from 41.8 to 75.4 g kg -1 DM. Compared to fiber fractions, non-fiber carbohydrate (NFC) and soluble sugar contents were highly variable (91 to 318 g kg -1 DM and 17.1 to 94 g kg -1 DM, respectively). The in vitro organic matter degradability (IVOMD) at 96 h was different among cultivars ranged from 41.9 to 53.0%. Sorghum-sudangrass hybrids (HB) and non-hybrid types (non-HB) were not apparently different in the dry matter yield and morphological composition, and chemical composition. While the comparison between HB and sorghum type (forage and grain) were different in the yield and some morphological composition but no difference in the chemical composition. The contents of soluble sugars in Sorghum plants was positively correlated to the in vitro ruminal GP at early phase of incubation (0-9 h) (r = 0.87). Sugar contents were also highly correlated to cumulative GP and VFA concentration (r > 0.67) compared to IVOMD (r = 0.42), whereas ADL content had a negative relation to IVOMD (r = -0.70). The fiber contents (NDF or ADF) showed no relation between IVOMD and rate of GP (24-96 h). It was concluded that among various Sorghum plants, cultivars that maintained higher dry matter yield and degradable dry matter yield as well as higher sugar or lower ADL contents should be selected as ruminant forages.Read More
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 7
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