Nutrient concentrations and profile of non-structural carbohydrates vary among different Brassica forages
Juan P. Keim
A E , Mónica Gandarillas A , Daniel Benavides B , Jaime Cabanilla B , Rubén G. Pulido C , Oscar A. Balocchi A and Annick Bertrand D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Animal Production Institute, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, PO Box 567, Valdivia, Chile.
B Graduate School, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, PO Box 567, Valdivia, Chile.
C Animal Science Institute, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, PO Box 567, Valdivia, Chile.
D Soils and Crops Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Québec City, QC G1V 2J3, Canada.
E Corresponding author. Email: juan.keim@uach.cl
Animal Production Science 60(12) 1503-1513 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN19472
Submitted: 23 August 2019 Accepted: 20 January 2020 Published: 9 April 2020
Abstract
Context: Brassica forages are used in times of seasonal shortage to fulfil nutritional requirements of beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep or pigs. Although brassicas have been reported with high concentrations of readily fermentable carbohydrate, details have not been fully described and there is little information about the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) profiles of Brassica forages.
Aim: The study was designed to evaluate nutrient concentrations, as well as NSC levels and constituents, of the main Brassica forages and to determine differences among varieties.
Methods: Five varieties of each of the four main forage brassicas (summer turnip, forage rape, kale and swede) were grown in plots and harvested for chemical analysis of the nutrient concentrations and NSC profiles of leaf and bulb (turnip and swede) and leaf and stem (rape and kale) components.
Key results: Brassica species differed in the amounts and types of NSC; swede had the highest concentration of NSC, mainly comprising sugars (glucose and fructose), followed by kale (with similar proportions of glucose, sucrose and fructose), turnip (with similar concentrations of glucose and starch and slightly lower fructose), and forage rape (in which starch was the main NSC). Forage chemical composition and NSC profile of plant organs varied among varieties of individual Brassica forages; for example, there were significant differences among swede varieties for concentrations of starch and sugar (total and profile) in bulbs.
Conclusions: Brassica forages differed with respect to quantities and types of NSC; swede had higher concentrations, mainly composed of glucose and fructose, followed by kale with similar proportions of glucose, sucrose and fructose, and turnip with NSC represented by glucose, starch and slightly lower fructose; and finally, forage rape, in which starch was the main NSC. Chemical composition, as well as NSC profile of plant organs (leaves, bulbs or stems), varied among varieties of Brassica species.
Implications: The approach described here has implications for ration formulation and is useful when considering the nutritional and dietary requirements of the animals of interest, because the type of Brassica, the variety and the proportion of plant organs can affect animal performance.
Additional keywords: Brassica rapa, Brassica napus, Brassica oleracea, summer turnip.
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