The forage digestion characteristics can better be understood when associated with studies of tissue anatomy of forage species. Aiming at new focus to this issue, the area of several tissues present in leaves and stems of B. brizantha and B. humidicola, were determined at three different regions of the plant. The assay was carried out at greenhouse, with plants growing in pots with sterilized sand, receiving nutritive solution of macro and micronutrients. After 70 days of growing period, the segment […]

The knowledge of the anatomy of tropical forage grasses may help to improve its use as ruminant feed. The aim of this paper was to determine the area occupied by different tissues in stem and leaf in three cultivars of elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.). Five plants of each cultivar were selected and segmented into three parts (apical, median and basal), this material being collected after ten weeks of regrowth. The stems were separated into two parts and the leaves segmented […]

In this research, the main histological changes that occurred in cultivars of elephant-grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.) at three development stages were determined. The tissue degradation was evaluated after incubation in cattle ruminal fluid. The percentage of tissues presented in the stem, keel, leaf limbo and sheath were determined. The keel and the stem presented greater proportion of lignified tissues, while the leaf limbo presented higher amount of epidermal and non-lignified vascular tissues. The parenchymal tissue was found in minor proportion […]