Nutritive Value of Some Herbage for Dromedary Camels in the Central Arid Zone of Iran

Trop Anim Health Prod (2011) 43:617–622 DOI 10.1007/s11250-010-9741-9

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Nutritive value of some herbage for dromedary camels in the central arid zone of Iran

Armin Towhidi & Tannaz Saberifar & Essa Dirandeh

Accepted: 13 April 2010 /Published online: 3 December 2010 # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Abstract The purpose of this study is to prepare standard rigida, Tamarix tree, and Artemisia seiberi were more tables of the chemical composition of feedstuff and to pleasurable feeds, respectively. There was no consistent determine the digestibility and palatability of different plant relationship between the palatability of herbages with the species in the dromedary camel, this research was con- percentage of digestible organic matter in the dry matter or ducted considering the consumed herbages by camels in the chemical composition. central arid zone of Iran. The following plant species were included: Alhagi camelorum, Artemisia sieberi, Atriplex Keywords Chemical composition . Digestibility . lentiformis, Haloxylon persicum, Hammada salicornica, Palatability. Herbage . Camel Salsola tomentosa, Salsola rigida, Seidlitzia rosmarinus, Suaeda fruticosa, Tamarix tree, and Tamarix kotschi. Thirty samples of the browsing parts were collected from three Introduction sites in the rangelands of Qom and Yazd province. The chemical composition of the samples, including dry matter, To determine the nutritive value of feedstuffs for camels, crude protein (CP), crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber the first step is to analyze the chemical composition of (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), ether extract, total ash, different species of plants preferred by camels, and then to macroelements (Ca, P, Mg, K), microelements, and gross measure their digestibility and palatability. The chemical energy were measured. The in vitro digestibility of the compositions of many feedstuffs have been obtained from plants was measured by camel liquor using the Tilley different ecosystems in the Arab region of Asia and Africa and Terry method. The palatability of the plants was (Wardeh et al. 1990; Alhadrami et al. 1998). In India, the measured by four mature camels in cafeteria trials. Data nutritive value of different tree leaves and green lucerne were analyzed by general linear model method using the fodder for camels in the north semiarid zone was SAS software. The highest CP (17.5%) related to determined (Bhagwat et al. 2001). They suggested that the Haloxylon persicum and the lowest NDF (26.2%) and tree leaves were palatable to camels and can serve as a good ADF (12.6%) were related to Salsola rigida. The lowest CP and nutritive fodder for camels. Rai and samanta (2007) (5.5%) and the highest NDF (72.8%) and ADF (59.6%) also reported the nutritive value of tree leaves and their were related to Artemisia sieberi. The results also indicate production for ruminants in India. that Atriplex lentiformis, Alhagi camelorum, Seidlitzia In Iran, Javan (2001) reported the digestibility of some rosmarinus, Suaeda fruticosa, Haloxylon persicum, Salsola arid rangeland plants using bovine rumen liquor. The tomentosa, Hammada salicornica, T. kotschi, Salsola determination of in vivo digestibility of wheat straw implied that camels apparently digest poor quality roughage : : better than cattle and sheep (Hedi and Khemais 1990; A. Towhidi (*) T. Saberifar E. Dirandeh Cianci et al. 2004); hence, it is required to measure the in Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science vitro digestibility of herbage by camel rumen liquor. and Engineering, University of Tehran, P. O. Box 4111, Karaj, Iran It has been documented that there is a reverse relation- e-mail: [email protected] ship between digestibility and palatability of forages with 618 Trop Anim Health Prod (2011) 43:617–622 neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content (Lascano et al. 2003; ments (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn), and gross energy were analyzed in Bagg 2003). While there is a positive correlation between the Animal Science Research Institute (Karaj) by standard the preferred rating of herbages and nitrogen and mineral methods (AOAC 1990; Vogel et al. 1999). The gross concentration in sheep, there are no data from dromedary energy of plants was measured by calorimetric bomb. camels. Recently, we reported the nutritive value of nine plant Determination of in vitro digestibility species from the east–north arid zone of Iran (Towhidi and Zhandi 2007); however, little information is known about To determine the digestibility of the plants, four mature the nutritive value of range herbages consumed by camels male camels were fitted with a fistula made of polyamide in the central arid and semiarid zones of Iran. The and polyvinyl chloride in the dorsal–caudal section of the objectives of this study were to determine (1) the chemical fore stomach under appropriate anesthesia and analgesia composition and gross energy of the consumed plant (von Engelhardt et al. 2006). The diameter of the external species, including Alhagi camelorum, Artemisia sieberi, opening of the large cannula was 7 cm, the diameter of the Atriplex lentiformis, Haloxylon persicum, Hammada sali- internal opening was 12 cm, and the weight of the cannula cornica, Salsola tomentosa, Salsola rigida, Seidlitzia was 35 g. The camels were allowed approximately 4 weeks rosmarinus, Suaeda fruticosa, Tamarix tree, and Tamarix to recover after the surgery. Postoperative monitoring was kotschi; (2) in vitro digestibility of plants by camel rumen performed by competent persons. We checked the animals liquor; and (3) the possible relationship between palatability to ensure that the cannula fitted well with no leakage or with digestibility or chemical composition of the herbages infection. They were cleaned as necessary and a detailed in dromedary camels. record of each animal from the day of fistulation was maintained, according to the procedures laid down by the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture (experimental permission Materials and methods no. 768). The in vitro digestibility was measured in duplicate by Animals and plants camel rumen liquor and pepsin, using the Tilley and Terry method (1963). The percentage of dry matter digestibility, The plant samples were collected in autumn 2005 based on organic matter digestibility, and organic matter digestibility stratified random sampling from the rangelands of the in dry matter (DOMD) were calculated. central arid zone of Iran. Thirty samples of the browsing parts were collected at seed ripening from three sites in The determination of palatability rangelands of Qom and Yazd province. The following plant species were included: Alhagi camelorum, Artemisia The palatability of plants was determined by four mature sieberi, Atriplex lentiformis, Haloxylon persicum, Ham- camels in the cafeteria trials. The camels were placed in mada salicornica, Salsola tomentosa, Salsola rigida, individual pen and offered simultaneously the choice of 11 Seidlitzia rosmarinus, Sueda fruticosa, Tamarix tree, and fresh plant species. The plant samples were collected from the T. kotschi. browsing parts from the rangelands. No apparent stress or Eight mature male camels (weight=380±21 kg; age=58 anxiety was observed from individual penning of the camels. ±2 months) were selected from herd of animal science The camels were fed each morning for 1 h during six research institute. Four of them were fitted with fistula for consecutive days. Each feed was weighed and offered in three providing rumen liquor. Fistulation was done with appro- separate containers. Sufficient feed was placed in each priate anesthesia and analgesia based on the Iranian container so that the feed would not be depleted. The feed Ministry of Agriculture rules related to animal trial. remaining from the previous feeding was weighed to determine the amount consumed, and the containers were Chemical analyses refilled. The location of the containers in the pen was randomizes at each feeding. To compare the preferred feeding After natural drying without air conditioning, leaves and based on a defined standard, a sample of each collected stems were separated manually. The ratio of leaf to stem sample were dried at room temperature for 1 month. The was assessed. The samples were ground in a laboratory mill camels had free access to water throughout the trial. to pass through a 1-mm screen for chemical analyses and for incubations by in vitro assays. Chemical composition of Statistical analysis samples including dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), NDF, acid detergent fiber (ADF), ether Data from feed preference trials were analyzed by the extract, total ash, macroelements (Ca, P, Mg, K), microele- generalized linear model (GLM) using the SAS software Trop Anim Health Prod (2011) 43:617–622 619

Table 1 Chemical composition of different plant species based on dry matter

Plant Phenological Leaf/stem DM (g/kg) CP (g/kg CF (g/kg NDF (g/kg ADF (g/kg DM) TA (g/kg DM) EE (g/ stage ratio DM) DM) DM) kg DM)

Atriplex SR 1:4.49 929 87 382 648 466 123 2.0 lentiformis Alhagi SR 1:2.80 940 150 244 264 273 71 7.0 camelorum Seidlitzia SR 1:3.42 933 95 232 322 264 263 1.5 rosmarinus Suaeda SR 1:3.15 902 135 342 510 392 211 3.0 fruticosa Haloxylon SR 1:2.61 957 175 236 514 304 306 9.0 persicum Salsola SR 1:3.32 932 133 416 600 398 195 4.0 tomentosa Hammada SR 1:4.01 923 117 428 516 426 143 3.5 salicornica Tamarix kotschi SR 1:4.91 918 72 330 496 452 147 4.0 Salsola rigida SR 1:2.85 947 146 104 262 126 376 5.0 Tamarix tree SR 1:3.85 950 105 242 501 331 170 9.0 Artemisia SR 1:5.52 930 55 484 728 596 55 13.5 sieberi

TA total ash, EE ether extract, SR seed ripening

(1996). The means were compared within the GLM by are presented in Table 1 and 2, respectively. The results in Duncan’s test. Table 1 showed that the highest CP was related to Haloxylon persicum and the lowest NDF and ADF were related to Salsola rigida. The lowest CP was related to Results and discussions Artemisia sieberi. Little information is known about the digestibility of herbages in camel. The digestibility of CP Chemical composition and CF of tree leaves and green forage (Bhagwat et al. 2001), and in situ DM and fiber degradation in camel and The chemical composition and gross energy, metabolizable in vitro gas production of four grasses irrigated with sea energy, and elemental composition of different plant species water were previously reported (Alhadrami et al. 1998;

Table 2 Gross energy, metabolizable energy, and elemental compositions of different plant species based on dry matter

PLANT GE (Kcal/g MEF (Kcal/g Ca (g/kg P (g/kg Mg (g/kg K (g/kg Fe (mg/kg Mn (mg/kg Cu (mg/kg Zn (mg/kg DM) DM) DM) DM) DM) DM) DM) DM) DM) DM)

Atriplex 4.002 6.066 8.2 2.2 2.6 20.0 50 22.5 7.3 190 lentiformis Alhagi 4.327 5.722 12.0 1.5 4.0 12.0 400 21.4 9.0 150 camelorum Seidlitzia 3.066 4.864 12.3 2.0 6.7 23.0 450 55.4 9.3 147 rosmarinus Suaeda 3.129 5.074 31.5 5.0 10.9 11.1 722 37.0 9.9 115 fruticosa Haloxylon 3.246 6.616 14.8 2.0 4.3 13.0 230 20.0 13.5 150 persicum Salsola 3.119 4.471 11.3 2.2 2.4 11.1 305 57.6 11.3 107 tomentosa Hammada 3.574 6.346 23.3 2.0 8.0 10.2 530 29.0 10.5 225 salicornica Tamarix kotschi 3.949 4.369 18.5 8.0 12.5 19.0 250 31.9 9.6 192 Salsola rigida 2.976 5.397 20.0 1.5 8.0 12.6 230 14.4 8.4 138 Tamarix tree 3.594 4.167 15.8 2.5 5.0 12.0 225 22.2 9.3 150 Artemisia siberi 4.593 2.722 15.9 2.5 1.8 13.1 200 22.6 13.7 212

GE gross energy 620 Trop Anim Health Prod (2011) 43:617–622

Abdel-Gawad and Alhadrami 1998). In our previous study concentration of the NDF increases (Traxler et al. 1998); in Semnan province, the highest crude protein content however, we did not measure lignin concentration or belonged to Alhagi camelorum, and the lowest fiber content indigestible NDF in this experiment. (NDF, ADF) was from Haloxylon ammodendron.The lowest crude protein was from Hammada salicornica, and Palatability the highest fiber (NDF, ADF) was from Halostachys spp (Towhidi and Zhandi 2007). Dereje and Udén (2005) The results showed that the species of plant had a showed in camel, the range of composition of the ten most significant effect (p<0.01) on intake. The mean intake of preferred species (grams per kilogram of dry matter) were Atriplex lentiformis was significantly (p<0.05) greater than for CP, 88–228; phosphorus, 1.3–3.3; and Ca, 12–48, the other plant species based on air-dried samples. As fresh, which are in the range of the current study. There is not relative intake of Atriplex lentiformis and Alhagi came- enough information of the quality of the resources in the lorum was not significantly different, but their intake was literature (FAO 1981) about Iran for comparison with the significantly (p<0.05) more than the other plant species. current study. The relative intake was greater (p<0.01) for fresh Seidlitzia rosmarinus and fresh Sueda fruticosa and air-dried Seid- In vitro digestibility litzia rosmarinus than for the others plant species (Table 4). Previous studies have also shown that there is a contraction The highest and the lowest DOMD percentage were related between the kind of species of pasture and feed behavior of to Haloxylon persicum and Artemisia sieberi, respectively livestock (Soder et al. 2007). The relationship between (Table 3). We also calculate the metabolized energy of the grazing and species richness is complex and nonlinear. For plants based on the metabolizable energy of forage (MEF)= example, in a pasture which is already diverse, the balance 0.15% DOMD as MEF is metabolizable energy of forage between species depends mainly on the effect of dietary (Orskov 1984). choices and preferences of particular species. The percentage of DOMD of Haloxylon persicum, Plants can be divided into three groups: (1) most Seidlitzia rosmarinus, and Hammada salicornica has been palatable including Atriplex lentiformis, and Alhagi came- measured with bovine rumen liquor by Javan (2001). The lorum; (2) palatable including Seidlitzia rosmarinus, different results, apparently, are caused by the kind of Suaeda fruticosa, Seidlitzia rosmarinus, Haloxylon persi- animal’s liquor or the photogenic stage of the plants. cum, and Salsola tomentosa; (3) less palatable or undesir- Lower fiber (NDF and ADF) is associated with higher able including Hammada salicornica, T. kotschi, Salsola digestibility and higher dry matter intake in sheep (Lascano rigida, Tamarix tree, and Artemisia sieberi. et al. 2003). There was no correlation between our data in There is little information about herbage preferences and dromedary camels. Previous studies have been shown that grazing behavior in camels. In one study by Wardeh (1990), NDF indigestibility increases nonlinearly as the lignin no relationship was reported between palatability and

Table 4 Mean±SD (kilograms) intake of different plant species as Table 3 Coefficients of in vitro digestibility of different plant species air-dried or freshly consumed by four mature camels in cafeteria trials that obtained using liquor of 4 camel fistulated in rumen Plant Air-dried (kg/day) Fresh (kg/day) Plant DMD OMD DOMD Atriplex lentiformis 4.01±0.44a 7.72±0.85a Atriplex lentiformis 0.579 0.499 0.404 Alhagi camelorum 2.89±0.53b 5.67±0.73b Alhagi camelorum 0.667 0.572 0.382 Seidlitzia rosmarinus 1.91±0.72c 2.80±0.30c Seidlitzia rosmarinus 0.614 0.463 0.324 Suaeda fruticosa 1.45±0.15cd 2.85±1.06c Suaeda fruticosa 0.828 0.686 0.338 Haloxylon persicum 1.32±0.21cd 1.89±0.35d Haloxylon persicum 0.708 0.627 0.441 Salsola tomentosa 1.10±0.18d 1.53±0.25d Salsola tomentosa 0.452 0.369 0.298 Hammada salicornica 0.83±0.26e 0.92±0.28e Hammada salicornica 0.603 0.511 0.423 Tamarix kotschi 0.77±0.14e 1.27±0.23de Tamarix kotschi 0.376 0.326 0.291 Salsola rigida 1.42±0.28cd 2.63±0.69c Salsola rigida 0.646 0.557 0.360 Tamarix tree 0.65±0.07f 0.98±0.12e Tamarix tree 0.569 0.489 0.278 Artemisia sieberi 0.44±0.06f 0.62±0.08f Artemisia sieberi 0.236 0.197 0.185 The values in each column which do not have a common letter are DMD dry matter digestibility, OMD organic matter digestibility significantly different Trop Anim Health Prod (2011) 43:617–622 621 chemical composition or digestibility. 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