Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-kw2vx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-23T20:56:07.466Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effect of condensed tannins in Lotus pedunculatus on the nutritive value of ryegrass (Lolium perenne) fed to sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. C. Waghorn  and
I. D. Shelton
G. C. Waghorn
Affiliation:
Ag ResearchGrasslands Research StationPrivate Bag 11008Palmerston NorthNew Zealand
I. D. Shelton
Affiliation:
Ag ResearchGrasslands Research StationPrivate Bag 11008Palmerston NorthNew Zealand
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A feeding trial was undertaken in Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1991, to determine the extent to which condensed tannins (CT) in Lotus pedunculatus were able to affect the nutritive value of ryegrass (which does not contain CT) for sheep. The trial involved three groups of 11 male cryptorchid sheep held in metabolism crates so that intakes, digestibilities and nitrogen balances could be measured over a 42-day feeding period. One group was fed freshly cut ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) as a sole diet (Grass group) and the other two groups were given a mixture of about one third freshly cut lotus and two thirds ryegrass (dry matter (DM) basis). This mixture contained c. 1·8% CT in the DM. One group given the mixed diet was drenched twice daily with polyethylene glycol (PEG; PEG group) to bind and remove the effects of the CT from the diet, whilst those not drenched were designated the ‘Tannin’ group. Intakes of all groups were constrained to that of the Grass group of sheep.

Condensed tannins in the lotus had a major effect on the digestion of ryegrass. When the forages were immature, apparent digestibility of nitrogen (N) was substantially reduced in the Tannin sheep (65·3%)compared to the PEG (77·5%) and Grass (77·9%) groups (P < 0·001). With mature forages, the respective values were 48·8, 62·5 and 53·7% (P < 0·01). Rumen ammonia concentrations and plasma urea concentrations were also reduced by CT. Condensed tannins reduced DM digestibility by 3·7 percentage units (P < 0·05) mainly through the effects on N digestion. Concentrations of acetate, propionate and butyrate in rumen liquor were not affected by treatment, but CT reduced the proportions of the minor volatile fatty acids (VFA; isobutyrate, valerate and isovalerate). Treatment did not affect liveweight gain (131—164 g/day), or wool growth from mid-side patches, and N retention was not reduced by CT, so that the nutritive value of the forage was maintained despite the reduction in N digestibility. The principal finding was that CT in Lotus pedunculatus were able to affect the digestibility of both grass and lotus when fed together, and that as little as 1·8% of CT in the dietary DM had a substantial effect on rumen function.

Type
Animals
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 125 , Issue 2 , October 1995 , pp. 291 - 297
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barry, T. N. & Duncan, S. J. (1984). The role of condensed tannins in the nutritional value of Lotus pedunculatus for sheep. 1. Voluntary intake. British Journal of Nutrition 51, 484–491.Google ScholarPubMed
Barry, T. N. & Forss, D. A. (1983). The condensed tannin content of vegetative Lotus pedunculatus, its regulation by fertiliser application, and effect upon protein solubility. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 34, 1047–1056.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, T. N. & Manley, T. R. (1984). The role of condensed tannins in the nutritional value of Lotus pedunculatus for sheep. 2. Quantitative digestion of carbohydrates and proteins. British Journal of Nutrition 51, 493–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, T. N., Manley, T. R. & Duncan, S. J. (1986). The role of condensed tannins in the nutritional value of Lotus pedunculatus for sheep. 4. Sites of carbohydrate and protein digestion as influenced by dietary reactive tannin concentration. British Journal of Nutrition 55, 123–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broadhurst, R. B. & Jones, W. T. (1978). Analysis of condensed tannins using acidified vanillin. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 29, 788–794.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egan, A. R. & Ulyatt, M. J. (1980). Quantitative digestion of fresh herbage by sheep. VI. Utilization of nitrogen in five herbages. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 47–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Shazly, K. (1952). Degradation of protein in the rumen of the sheep. 2. The action of rumen micro-organisms on amino-acids. The Biochemical Journal 51, 647–653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerson, T., John, A., Shelton, I. D. & Sinclair, B. R. (1982). Effects of dietary N on lipids of rumen digesta, plasma, liver, muscle and perirenal fat in sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 99, 71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hogan, J. P. (1982). Digestion and utilization of protein. In Nutritional Limits to Animal Production from Pastures (Ed. Hacker, J. B.), pp. 245–257. Farnham Royal: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux.Google Scholar
Horigome, T., Kumar, R. & Okamoto, K. (1988). Effects of condensed tannins prepared from leaves of fodder plants on digestive enzymes in vitro and in the intestine of rats. British Journal of Nutrition 60, 275–285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, T. P., Sykes, A. R. & Poppi, D. P. (1984). Diet selection of young ruminants in late spring. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 44, 109–112.Google Scholar
Jones, W. T. & Mangan, J. L. (1977). Complexes of the condensed tannins of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.) with Fraction I leaf protein and with submaxillary mucoprotein, and their reversal by polyethylene glycol and pH. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 28, 126–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marsh, N. H., Fingerhut, B. & Miller, H. (1965). Automated and manual direct methods for the determination of blood urea. Clinical Chemistry 11, 624.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McNabb, W. C., Waghorn, G. C., Barry, T. N. & Shelton, I. D. (1993). The effect of condensed tannins in Lotus pedimculatus on the digestion and metabolism of methionine, cystine and inorganic sulphur in sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 70, 647–661.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niezen, J. H., Waghorn, T. S., Waghorn, G. C. & Charleston, W. A. G. (1993). Internal parasites and lamb production – a role for plants containing condensed tannins? Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 53, 235–238.Google Scholar
Pritchard, D. A., Stocks, D. C., O'Sullivan, B. M., Martin, P. R., Hurwood, I. S. & O'Rourke, P. K. (1988). The effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) on wool growth and liveweight of sheep consuming mulga (Acacia anaeura) diet. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 17, 290–293.Google Scholar
Robertson, J. B. & Van Soest, P. J. (1980). The detergent system of analyses and its application to human foods. In Basic and Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 3 (Eds James, W. P. T. & Theander, O.), pp. 123–158. New York: Marcel Dekker.Google Scholar
Technicon Industrial Systems (1973). Autoanalyser II Method No. 270–73W. Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA: Technicon Ltd.Google Scholar
Terrill, T. H., Windham, W. R., Hoveland, C. S. & Amos, H. E. (1989). Forage preservation method influences on tannin concentration, intake and digestibility of sericea lespedeza by sheep. Agronomy Journal 81, 435–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Soest, P. J. (1983). Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant (Ed. Van Soest, P. J.), pp. 160–162, Corvallis: O & B Books.Google Scholar
Waghorn, G. C. & Jones, W. T. (1989). Bloat in cattle, 46. Potential of dock (Rumex obtusifolius) as an antibloat agent for cattle. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 32, 227–235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waghorn, G. C., John, A., Jones, W. T. & Shelton, I. D. (1987 a). Nutritive value of Lotus corniculatus L. containing low and medium concentrations of condensed tannins for sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 47, 25–30.Google Scholar
Waghorn, G. C., Ulyatt, M. J., John, A. & Fisher, M. T. (1987 b). The effect of condensed tannins on the site of digestion of amino acids and other nutrients in sheep fed on Lotus corniculatus L. British Journal of Nutrition 57, 115–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waghorn, G. C., Shelton, I. D. & McNabb, W. C. (1994 a). Effects of condensed tannins in Lotus pedunculatus on its nutritive value for sheep. 1. Non-nitrogenous aspects. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 123, 99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waghorn, G. C., Shelton, I. D., McNabb, W. C. & McCutcheon, S. N. (1994 b). Effects of condensed tannins in Lotus pedunculatus on its nutritive value for sheep. 2. Nitrogenous aspects. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 123, 109–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y., Waghorn, G. C., Douglas, G. B., Barry, T. N. & Wilson, G. F. (1994 a). The effects of condensed tannin in Lotus corniculatus upon nutrient metabolism and upon body growth and wool growth in grazing sheep. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 54, 219–222.Google Scholar
Wang, Y., Waghorn, G. C., Barry, T. N. & Shelton, I. D. (1994 b). The effect of condensed tannins in Lotus corniculatus on plasma metabolism of methionine, cystine and inorganic sulphate by sheep. British Journal of Nutrition 72, 923–935.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, C. H. & Twine, J. R. (1967). Determination of nitrogen, sulphur, potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium in plant material by automatic analysis. CSIRO Technical Paper No. 24, 119–126.Google Scholar