scholarly journals Development of white clover populations with higher concentrations of water soluble carbohydrate

Author(s):  
K.H. Widdup ◽  
J.L. Ford ◽  
B.A. Barret ◽  
D.R. Woodfield

Water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) provides readily available energy in the rumen that improves the efficiency of crude protein (CP) utilisation, partitioning of dietary N towards animal growth, and reduces the loss of N as urea.

1979 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Ulyatt ◽  
A. R. Egan

SUMMARYThe extents and sites of digestion of organic matter (OM), and its constituent watersoluble carbohydrates, organic acids, pectin, cellulose, hemicellulose and crude protein have been studied in sheep prepared with re-entrant duodenal cannulas and fed four fresh herbage diets, Ruanui perennial ryegrass, Tama Westerwolds ryegrass, Pitau white clover and Fakir sainfoin, at each of two levels of intake.The water-soluble carbohydrate, organic acids and pectin of all diets were almost completely digested within the rumen. Some 10% of water soluble carbohydrate reached the duodenum on each diet, though this may not have been of dietary origin. Only on legume diets, where pectin concentration was higher, did measurable amounts of pectin reach the intestine, accounting for some 5% of the pectin.Hemicellulose and cellulose digestibilities differed between diets, being lowest for sainfoin, and next lowest for clover. Between 79 and 94% of digestible hemicellulose was digested in the stomach, but diet and intake had no significant effect on this partition. Of the digestible cellulose, 87–97% was digested in the stomach.Digestibility of N was lowest for sainfoin and highest for Tama ryegrass. There were no significant differences between herbage species or intake in the percentage of digested N digested in the stomach or intestines. The tannin contained in sainfoin had no effect on nitrogen digestion.Data from this and other studies reported in the literature were examined as a basis for establishing prediction equations whereby the partition of digestion of the major carbohydrate and nitrogenous constituents in stomach and intestines might be estimated from data obtainable from standard digestibility trials. Regressions were developed for predicting the amounts of OM, cellulose, and hemicellulose digested in the stomach. There are not yet enough suitable data available to predict the amount of nitrogen entering the small intestine.


2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
L.A. Box ◽  
G.R. Edwards ◽  
R.H. Bryant

Chicory and plantain have been suggested as alternative grazed forages to perennial ryegrass for New Zealand dairy systems. While diurnal changes in plant chemical composition have been described for ryegrass there is currently little information for herbs. This experiment aimed to compare the effect of nitrogen inputs (low and high) and harvesting time (am versus pm) on the chemical composition of four forages (ryegrass, plantain, chicory and white clover). The effect of harvest time was greater than N fertiliser inputs on chemical composition for all forages. Ryegrass showed the greatest increase in water soluble carbohydrate diurnally, at the expense of neutral detergent fibre and to a lesser extent crude protein. This suggests afternoon allocation of ryegrass may be beneficial to improve the nutritive value of pasture on offer; allocation timing is less important for white clover, chicory and plantain. Keywords: chicory, clover, crude protein, plantain, ryegrass, water soluble carbohydrate


1966 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Ellis Davies ◽  
G. ap Griffith ◽  
A. Ellington

The primary growth of eight varieties of three species–white clover (3), red clover (4) and lucerne (1)–was sampled at fortnightly intervals and the percentage dry matter, in vitro digestibility, crude protein, water soluble carbohydrates, P, Ca, K, Na and Mg were determined.Differences between species were nearly always significant and the general order of merit was white clover, red clover and lucerne. The exceptions were for dry-matter percentage where this order was reversed, and red clover had the lowest Na and highest Mg content.


1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (61) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Michell

Neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) levels were determined on 80 samples of known apparent dry matter digestibility (DMD) and voluntary intake of dry matter (DMI). The pastures consisted of regrowths of six species: Trifolium repens (white clover cv. Grasslands Huia), Lolium perenne x L. multiflorum (short rotation ryegrass c.v Grasslands Manawa), Lolium perenne (long rotation ryegrass cv. Grasslands Ariki), Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass cv. Tasmania No. I), Dactylis glomerata (cocksfoot cv. Currie) and Dactylis glomerata (cocksfoot cv. Grasslands Apanui), cut eight times between May 1969 and August 1970. Overall, white clover had a lower NDF and a lower WSC content than the ryegrasses but both groups had similar ADF contents. Cocksfoots had higher NDF and ADF, and lower WSC contents than the ryegrasses. NDF and ADF could be used to predict the DMD of all species in all seasons with residual standard deviations (RSD) of 3.0 and 3.2 DMD units (per cent) respectively. No significant relations (P < 0.05) were present between DMD and WSC content. Seasonal differences were present in the relations between DMI and chemical composition. The RSD of the overall regressions of intake with NDF, ADF, and WSC contents were 9.3, 9.4, and 8.9 DMI units (g/day/kg0.75) respectively. Within seasons, DMI was best predicted by regressions with detergent fibre content and here the RSD had a range of 3.4 to 5.2 DMI units. Within species over all seasons, DMI was predicted best by regressions with WSC content and the RSD had a range of 5.7 to 7.9 DMI units. The usefulness of the chemical composition measurements in explaining the reason for the low intakes, previously found with winter pasture, is discussed.


1998 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. V. O'DOHERTY ◽  
P. NOWAKOWSKI ◽  
T. F. CROSBY

First-harvest, precision-chopped Lolium perenne grass with a dry matter (DM) content of 132·0 g/kg and water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) and crude protein (CP) contents of 24 g/kg and 106 g/kg DM, respectively, was ensiled in farm scale silos following the addition of formic acid (FA) (2·5 l/t) or molassed sugarbeet pulp (MSBP) (50 kg/t). Mature twin-bearing ewes (n=56) were allocated to one of seven treatments and offered either FA-treated silage or MSBP silage ad libitum. The trial commenced on day 91 of pregnancy, when the ewes were offered FA-treated silage (T1), FA-treated silage+soyabean meal (T2), MSBP silage (T3), MSBP silage+soyabean meal (T4), FA-treated silage+MSBP (T5), FA-treated silage+MSBP+soyabean meal (T6) or FA-treated silage+a barley-based supplement (150 g CP per kg DM) (T7, control). Soyabean meal supplementation was only offered in the last 3 weeks of pregnancy, with the objective of achieving a total CP intake of 220 g/ewe per day. Compared with the FA-treated silage, the MSBP silage had a higher nitrogen content (P<0·01) and a lower neutral detergent fibre (NDF) content, but the two silages did not differ in DM, acid detergent fibre (ADF) or gross energy contents. Silage DM intakes (SDMI) were higher on the MSBP silage-based diets (T3, T4) than for any other treatment (P<0·05). The addition of soyabean meal significantly increased SDMI in T2 in the last week of pregnancy (P<0·05), but there was no response in SDMI to soyabean meal supplementation in any of the other treatments. Ewe liveweight changes (kg) of −0·4, 4·1, 7·8, 10·2, 7·1, 9·6 and 10·8 (S.E.±1·2), body condition score changes of −0·96, −0·59, −0·42, −0·33, −0·37, +0·01 and −0·27 (S.E.±0·1) and total lamb birth weights (kg) of 8·0, 8·7, 9·2, 9·9, 8·6, 8·0 and 10·4 (S.E.±0·5) were recorded for ewes in T1 to T7 respectively.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 ◽  
pp. 194-194
Author(s):  
C. L. Marley ◽  
D. A. Davies ◽  
J. E. Vale ◽  
J. G. Evans ◽  
N. D. Scollan ◽  
...  

Grazing experiments have shown that using a ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) variety bred by conventional techniques for high water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) concentrations can improve liveweight gain in pre-weaned lambs (Lee et al., 2001) and increase milk yields and reduce N excretion in dairy cows (Miller et al., 2001) compared to conventional ryegrass. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of using reseeded upland pastures, sown with either a ryegrass variety bred for elevated levels of WSC or a control ryegrass on the production performance of grazing steers when compared to steers grazing permanent ryegrass/white clover pastures.


1978 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Wilman ◽  
P. T. Wright

SUMMARYThe regrowth of Aberystwyth S. 22 Italian ryegrass, S. 24 perennial ryegrass and S. 37 cocksfoot was studied in field swards with and without applied nitrogen during the 21 days following a cut or grazing, there being a total of five periods of study at different tunes of year and in different years.The proportion of cell content in the harvested herbage, as measured by neutral detergent, increased by nearly 9 percentage units from day 3 to day 18 of regrowth. The proportion of cell content as measured by acid pepsin also increased during regrowth, but to a lesser extent. The proportion of cell content in leaf blades of two age categories, as measured by neutral detergent, also increased during regrowth. The above increases in proportion of cell content were found in all three grasses. The increases were associated with increases in the proportion of crude protein in dry matter, which were only partially offset by reductions in the proportion of water-soluble carbohydrate. The broad pattern of change in N and nitrate-N content of Italian ryegrass herbage during regrowth in spring with different amounts of N applied, noted in earlier experiments, was confirmed and found to apply to perennial ryegrass and cocksfoot also. During a September-October period of study there was little sign of decline in nitrate-N content within the 21 days where N had been applied. Younger leaf blades had a rather lower nitrate-N content and a slightly higher total N content, on average, than, older blades. The application of N increased the proportion of crude protein more than it reduced the proportion of water-soluble carbohydrate and it increased the proportion of cell content. The increase in proportion of cell content was sufficient to explain the positive effect of N application on digestibility. The average proportion of total herbage N which was found in the cell wall fraction was about 12%.There appeared to be a relationship between chemical composition and dry-matter content. The chlorophyll content of leaf blades increased during regrowth and was increased by N application. The experimental results on balance, particularly those for proportion of cell content, suggest an improvement in nutritive value of grass during regrowth up to about 3 weeks in contrast to the well-recognized decline in nutritive value where regrowth proceeds beyond about 3 weeks.


1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 983 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Lawson ◽  
P. W. G. Sale ◽  
K. B. Kelly

The effect of defoliation frequency (1 or 3 defoliations over a 42-day period) on the starch, water soluble carbohydrate (WSC), and nitrogen contents of 3 white clover cultivars (Haifa, Irrigation, and S184) was examined. The clover plants consisted of single stolons growing in a sand/scoria mix in an unheated glasshouse and fertilised weekly with a nitrogen-free solution. Starch concentrations ranged from 1·3% in frequently defoliated Haifa to 15·3% in infrequently defoliated S184 plants. However, there was no interaction between cultivar and defoliation frequency, with the starch concentration in S184 (11·2%) being twice that in Irrigation (6·0%) and 3 times that in Haifa (3·8%). The starch concentration was also less with frequent (3·7%) than with infrequent (10·3%) defoliation. The starch was localised in the old stolon material (12·2%), with lower levels of starch in both the young stolon (6·0%) and roots (4·0%). Furthermore, the cultivar and defoliation frequency effects on the starch concentrations were most pronounced in the old stolon. More frequent defoliation also resulted in a small reduction in the WSC and nitrogen concentrations in both the young and old stolons of Haifa, but not of Irrigation. It was concluded that although starch reserves were the principal method of reserve storage in white clover, WSC and nitrogen reserves will form a relatively large fraction of the reserve pool when starch reserves are depleted under conditions such as frequent defoliation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 ◽  
pp. 86-86
Author(s):  
M.R.F. Lee ◽  
R.T. Evans ◽  
J.M. Moorby ◽  
M.O. Humphreys ◽  
M. K. Theodorou ◽  
...  

Fresh forages may result in the loss of up to 40% of dietary nitrogen as rumen ammonia, as the microbial population is unable to utilise all the non-protein nitrogen released from rapidly degradable plant proteins. This may be due to the characteristically low levels of readily available energy released in the rumen, primarily as a result of the low levels of water soluble carbohydrate (WSC) in traditional forages. In a previous experiment Lee et al, (1999) found an increase in liveweight gain of pre-weaned lambs grazing Lolium perenne selected for high WSC concentrations. This study examined whether the enhanced performance on high WSC grass may be related to increased supply of nitrogen to the small intestine.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (8) ◽  
pp. 821 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. F. Smith ◽  
R. J. Simpson ◽  
R. N. Oram ◽  
K. F. Lowe ◽  
K. B. Kelly ◽  
...  

Summary. Two lines of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), cv. Aurora and breeding line Ba 11351, from the United Kingdom with elevated concentrations of water-soluble carbohydrates in the shoot were compared with the standard cultivars, Ellett, Vedette and Kangaroo Valley, in pure grass swards under irrigation at Kyabram, Victoria, and Gatton, Queensland, and under natural rainfall at Condah, Victoria, during 1995–97. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was used to predict the water-soluble carbohydrate, crude protein, in vitro dry matter digestibility, neutral and acid detergent fibre, and Klason lignin concentrations of the perennial ryegrass herbage. Herbage yield and water-soluble carbohydrate differed between cultivars at each site at most harvests, with the high water-soluble carbohydrate lines usually yielding less and having higher water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations than the 3 standard cultivars. However, the high water-soluble carbohydrate lines also had higher water-soluble carbohydrate concentrations at harvests where their yield was equal to the standard cultivars. The other nutritive value traits differed significantly at more than half of the 32 harvests: the high water-soluble carbohydrate lines had higher crude protein and dry matter digestibility, and lower neutral detergent fibre, the neutral detergent fibre containing less acid detergent fibre and lignin than did the standard cultivars. The high water-soluble carbohydrate lines were more susceptible to crown rust during spring and summer than the standard cultivars at Kyabram and Gatton: heavy infections reduced yield, water-soluble carbohydrate, dry matter digestibility and crude protein. Higher water-soluble carbohydrate may depend on only a few genes, as does rust resistance and it seems likely that high yielding, high water-soluble carbohydrate cultivars can be developed by recombination and selection.


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