The digestion of forages is determined by chemical and anatomical factors, which are affected by the growing stage of species. As the growing plants show a variety of tissues in anatomy and composition, it’s important to determine their relative participation in total dry matter production, as well their digestion rates. The aim of this paper was to determine the digestibility and chemical composition of leaf fractions (limbo, keel, sheath), as well as of the upper, median and lower part of […]

The objective of the present study was to determinate the nitrogenous compounds fractions present in the extrusa of grazing cattle maintained in a natural grassland in the Zona da Mata region, MG. The samples were obtained by using four esophageal fistulated steers in two experimental periods during the rainy season of 1996, and three of these animals were used to take samples in two experimental periods during the dry season of the same year. In order to obtain the nitrogen […]

The objectives of the present work were to characterizate and determinate the parameters estimates related to the ruminal degradation kinetics of the carbohydrates in extrusa samples from animals maintained in a natural pasture of the Zona da Mata (MG) region, during the rainy and dry seasons of the year. To obtain representative samples, four esophageal fistulated steers were used in two experimental periods during the rainy season, and three of these animals were used in two experimental periods during the […]

The objective of the present work was to validate the ruminal and post-ruminal nutrient dynamics and the ruminal microbial growth predictions, by using the equations of the Cornell system. The experiment was carried out during the rainy and dry seasons of the 1996 year, in a natural pasture area situated in the county of Viçosa (MG). Esophageally, ruminally and abomasally cannulated steers were used during two experimental periods within each season, and external markers (Cr2O3 and Eu) were used to […]

In the present work, the chemical composition changes and dry matter (DM) digestibility of three cultivars (Empasc-307-Testo, Empasc-309-Areia and Roxo) of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach.), were measured through a growing period of 126 days. The production and quality of tropical forage grasses were determined, in part, by the growing period. The plants showed greater height and dry matter accumulation, increasing the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and lignin concentrations and substantially reducing DM and NDF digestibility levels, with longer growing […]