Publication Date

1989

Location

Nice France

Description

Sericea lespedeza [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont-Cours.) G. Don.] is well adapted to acid soils and low fertility but has generally been considered a low-quality forage due to high levels of tannin and indigestible fiber. Tannin levels increase during midsummer (Windham et al. 1988). The most com­monly used assay for tannin in sericea is the vanillin-HCl pro­cedure (Burns, 1963) on oven-dried samples. Oven-drying has been reported to cause increased polymerization or oxidative changes in tannins (Goldstein and Swain, 1963). Fresh-frozen sericea contained higher amounts of extract­able tannin than field-dried forage and fiber digestibility of high-tannin sericea by sheep was much lower in fresh forage than in the hay (Terrill et al. 1988). Preservation method is important in correlation of laboratory data with actual field levels of tannin, but it may also affect animal performance as drying may reduce tannin levels and improve forage digesti­bility. Our objective in this experiment was to determine the effect of preservation method on tannin in sericea lespedeza as determined by the vanillin-HCl procedure.

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Natural and Artificial Drying Effects on Condensed Tannins of Sericea lespedeza

Nice France

Sericea lespedeza [Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont-Cours.) G. Don.] is well adapted to acid soils and low fertility but has generally been considered a low-quality forage due to high levels of tannin and indigestible fiber. Tannin levels increase during midsummer (Windham et al. 1988). The most com­monly used assay for tannin in sericea is the vanillin-HCl pro­cedure (Burns, 1963) on oven-dried samples. Oven-drying has been reported to cause increased polymerization or oxidative changes in tannins (Goldstein and Swain, 1963). Fresh-frozen sericea contained higher amounts of extract­able tannin than field-dried forage and fiber digestibility of high-tannin sericea by sheep was much lower in fresh forage than in the hay (Terrill et al. 1988). Preservation method is important in correlation of laboratory data with actual field levels of tannin, but it may also affect animal performance as drying may reduce tannin levels and improve forage digesti­bility. Our objective in this experiment was to determine the effect of preservation method on tannin in sericea lespedeza as determined by the vanillin-HCl procedure.