Nutritive Value of Ajuga iva as a Pastoral Plant for Ruminants: Plant Phytochemicals and In Vitro Gas Production and Digestibility

Hajer Ammar (), Ahmed Eid Kholif, Yosra Ahmed Soltan, Mohammad Isam Almadani, Walid Soufan, Amr Salah Morsy, Saloua Ouerghemmi, Mireille Chahine, Mario E. de Haro Marti, Sawsan Hassan, Houcine Selmi, Egon Henrique Horst and Secundino Lopez
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Hajer Ammar: Laboratoire de Systèmes de Production Agricole et Développement Durable “SPADD”, UCAR, Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture de Mograne, Mograne Zaghouan 1121, Tunisia
Ahmed Eid Kholif: Dairy Science Department, National Research Centre, 33 Bohouth St. Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt
Yosra Ahmed Soltan: Animal and Fish Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21516, Egypt
Mohammad Isam Almadani: Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, Bundesallee 63, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany
Walid Soufan: Plant Production Department, Faculty of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Amr Salah Morsy: Livestock Research Department, Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, Alexandria 21934, Egypt
Saloua Ouerghemmi: Laboratoire de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Banque Nationale des Gènes (BNG), ZI Charguia 1, Tunis 1080, Tunisia
Mireille Chahine: Department of Animal, Veterinary and Food Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Mario E. de Haro Marti: Gooding County Extension, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, 203 Lucy Lane, Gooding, ID 83330, USA
Sawsan Hassan: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman 11185, Jordan
Houcine Selmi: Laboratoire des Ressources Sylvo-Pastorales, Institut Sylvo-Pastoral de Tabarka, Tabarka 8110, Tunisia
Egon Henrique Horst: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Campus de Cascavel, Guarapuava 85040-167, Paraná, Brazil
Secundino Lopez: Departamento de Producción Animal, Universidad de León, 24007 León, Spain

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-13

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the nutritive value of Ajuga iva ( A. iva ) harvested from three distinct altitude regions in Tunisia (Dougga, Mograne, and Nabeul). The chemical composition, phenolic concentration, gas production, and in vitro dry matter (DM) digestibility were determined. The highest concentrations of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were for A. iva cultivated in Nabeul. In contrast, the highest crude protein (CP) concentration was observed in that cultivated in Mograne, and the lowest ( p < 0.01) CP concentration was noted in that cultivated in Dougga. Additionally, the cultivation regions affected the concentrations of free-radical scavenging activity, total flavonoids, and total polyphenols ( p < 0.01). The highest free-radical scavenging activity was observed with A. iva cultivated in Dougga and Mograne. The highest ( p < 0.05) gas production rate and lag time were observed in A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Nabeul regions. DM digestibility differed between regions and methods of determination. The highest ( p < 0.01) DM degradability, determined by the method of Tilley and Terry and the method of Van Soest et al., was for A. iva cultivated in Mograne and Dougga, while the lowest ( p < 0.01) value was recorded for that cultivated in the Nabeul region. Likewise, metabolizable energy (ME) and protein digestibility values were higher for A. iva collected from Mograne region than that collected from the other sampling areas. In conclusion, the nutritive value of A. iva differed between regions. Therefore, care should be taken when developing recommendations for using A. iva in an entire region. Season- and region-specific feeding strategies for feeding A. iva are recommended.

Keywords: Ajuga iva; chemical composition; nutritive value; unconventional feeds; phenolic; growing conditions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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