Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran. E-mail: naser.bayati@iau.ir
2 Corresponding Author, Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran. E-mail: h-mansouri@iau-arak.ac.ir
3 Animal Science Research Institute of Iran, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran. E-mail: n.papi@areeo.ac.ir
4 Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch, Arak, Iran. E-mail: j-fakhraei@iau-arak.ac.ir
Abstract
Introduction: Climate change causing deficiencies in freshwater resources and increasing salinity of soil and groundwater will lead to a scarcity of forage for ruminants in some countries. Halophyte crops that are adapted to soil and water salinity and high temperatures could provide suitable forage under these harsh conditions. Salicornia is an annual herbaceous halophyte belonging to the Amaranthaceae family, which has more than 175 genera and 2000 species of herbs and is a small shrub. Salicornia grows in temperate and subtropical climates and has yielded from 10 to 20 t/ha of dry biomass when irrigated with seawater. Salicornia is one of the few halophyte plants that can grow with direct use of sea water, although the salinity tolerance threshold of the plant is low in the germination stage. According to the limited studies related to the nutrition of halophyte plants in ruminants, this study aimed to investigate the nutritional value and degradability of different ecotypes of Salicornia spp. in in vitro condition.
Materials and Methods: First, Salicornia samples were collected from the farms of Urmia and Gamishan cities, and immediately after harvesting from the farm, the sample weight was determined to determine the dry matter (DM). In order to evaluate the nutritional value of Salicornia, chemical composition, minerals, gas production and degradability of DM were measured by in vitro.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the DM percentage of Salicornia was 92 in Urmia ecotype and 85.31 in Gamishan ecotype (P<0.05). Salicornia crude fat percentage was 2.50 in Urmia ecotype and 1.20 in Gamishan ecotype (P<0.05). The ash content of Salicornia fodder in Urmia ecotype was 19.40%. The percentage of NDF and ADF of Salicornia in Urmia ecotype was lower than Gamishan ecotype (P<0.05). The amount of magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, manganese and iron of Salicornia in Urmia ecotype was higher than Gamishan ecotype (P<0.05). The amount of potassium, copper and zinc in Salicornia was similar between Urmia and Gamishan ecotypes. The amount of gas production of Salicornia fodder in Urmia ecotype was higher than Gamishan ecotype at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24 and 72 hours of incubation (P<0.05); While at 96 hours of incubation, the amount of gas production of Salicornia in Gamishan ecotype increased significantly compared to Urmia ecotype (P<0.05). The gas production potential (A) and gas production rate (C) were higher in Gamishan and Urmia ecotypes, respectively (P<0.05). The results showed that Metabolic energy, net energy and short chain fatty acids obtained from the gas production in Salicornia were higher in Urmia ecotype than Gamishan ecotype (P<0.05). In the Urmia and Gamishan ecotypes, the degradability of the rapidly degradable fraction (a) of Salicornia was 29.04% and 45.47 and slowly degradable fraction (b) 39.24%, and 38.17%, respectively. Effective degradability of Salicornia assuming passage rates of 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08 per hour in Urmia ecotype was 46.59, 42.37 and 40.20%, respectively.
Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, according to the higher amount of produced gas and estimated energy and short chain fatty acids in Urmia ecotype; its use in ruminant nutrition is recommended.
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