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Element Concentration of Forage and Non‐soluble Cell Wall Fraction of Coastal Bermudagrass 1
Author(s) -
Edwards J. H.,
Jackson W. A.,
Beaty E. R.,
McCreery R. A.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1977.00021962006900040023x
Subject(s) - forage , cynodon dactylon , loam , agronomy , fraction (chemistry) , cell wall , fodder , digestion (alchemy) , biology , zoology , chemistry , botany , soil water , chromatography , ecology
Elements contained in forage, the primary feed of beef cattle, are extremely important in animal nutrition. However, lack of knowledge concerning the release of elements in the forage during digestion has hampered effective research on the biological value of forage elements. The research reported here was concerned with measuring some of the major elements contained in (a) coastal bermudagrass ( Cynodon dactylon L. Pers.) and (b) in the non‐soluble cell wall fraction of this forage. The experiments were done in the field on a Cecil sandy loam soil (a Typic Hapludult). Coastal bermudagrass fertilized with 0, 165, 336, and 504 kg/ha of N and clipped at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks after first clipping was analyzed for Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Fe, Zn, and Cu. The nonsoluble cell wall fraction of the same forage samples was analyzed for Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Cu, and Zn. The cell wall extraction removed about 90% of the Cu and from 97 to 99% of the Ca, K, Mg, and Mn contained in the forage. However, from 80 to 100% of the Zn contained in the forage remained in the non‐soluble cell wall fraction. Increasing N rates increased the K, Mn, and Cu concentration in the forage, but did not influence the concentration retained in the non‐soluble cell wall fraction. Clipping frequency and growth cycle did not affect the concentration of the elements in the forage or the non‐soluble cell wall fraction.