Changes in the non‐structural carbohydrates associated with the field drying of oat forage

Two trials were conducted to determine the sugars, fructans and starch in oat plants ( Avena sativa L) and the changes occurring in these carbohydrate fractions during field drying in the haymaking process. The composition of oat herbage in non‐structural carbohydrates varied markedly between years; the contents of sugars, fractals and starch in both leaf blade and non‐leaf blade materials being nether in 1990–1991 than in 1991–1992. Field drying produced a significant decrease ( P < 0.05) in the amount of soluble carbohydrates. For the whole aerial plant parts, the decline in the fructans concentration ranged between 42.8 and 38.2% and that of sugars between 16.5 and 5.8%. The total losses of sugars and fractions in hay, expressed as losses of dry matter, ranged from 88 to 63 g kg −1 depending on the year.