Nutritional evaluation of silage made from the toxic weed parthenium hysterophorus in animals

Narasimhan, TR and Murthy, Keshava BS and Rao, Subba PV (1993) Nutritional evaluation of silage made from the toxic weed parthenium hysterophorus in animals. In: Food and Chemical Toxicology, 31 (7). pp. 509-515.

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Abstract

After ensilation, the toxic Compositae weed Parthenium hysterophorus was devoid of the toxic principle parthenin. Laboratory-scale ensilation indicated that no parthenin was detectable after 5 wk of anaerobic fermentation. For animal feeding studies, silage was made on a large scale from Parthenium mixed with maize or from Parthenium alone. Crossbred bull and buffalo bull calves were fed diets containing the silages, or control diet without silage, for 12 wk. The animals consumed both silages with relish, and body weight gains of silage-fed calves did not differ from those of the controls. The digestibilities of dry matter, fibre and nitrogen-free extract were greater with the control diet, but the biological value of proteins tended to be greater with the silage-containing diets. Haematological studies indicated no significant differences between experimental and control groups in selected parameters, except for a reduction in blood urea nitrogen in the animals fed silage. The possible causes for these biochemical alterations are discussed. Since the nutritive value of Parthenium silage compares favourably with the standard diet, and Parthenium seeds collected from the silage did not germinate, we suggest that ensilation can be used as an additional method in the containment and eradication of these plants, which grow wild in India.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Food and Chemical Toxicology
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Biochemistry
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2011 07:28
Last Modified:	17 Feb 2011 07:28
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/35640

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