Desirable characteristics of forage legumes for improving protein utilization in ruminants
Abstract
Forages help meet the protein requirements of ruminants by providing degraded CP for microbial protein synthesis plus protein that escapes ruminal degradation. Evidence from numerous feeding studies with lactating dairy cows indicates that excessive ruminal protein degradation may be the most limiting nutritional factor in higher-quality temperature legume forages. Hence, there is interest in identifying factors that influence the rate and extent of ruminal degradation of forage proteins. Condensed tannins found in legumes are known to decrease protein degradation, either by altering the forage proteins or by inhibiting microbial proteases. Quadratic regressions of degradation rate and estimated protein escape on tannin concentration reached minimal rate (.048/h) and maximal escape (56%) at 27 g of tannic acid equivalents/kg of DM. Although most tannin-containing forages are not well-adapted to growing conditions in North America, biotechnology has been used to inject genes for tannins into adapted germplasm. The CP in red clover, which has no detectable tannins, was found to be less degradable than that in alfalfa, both in the silo and in the rumen. Small differences in protein degradability also were detected among alfalfa ge...Continue Reading
Citations
Importance of grass-legume choices on cattle grazing behavior, performance, and meat characteristics
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