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This study was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, the European Union Regional Development Funds (INIA RTA2012-080-00, INIA RZP2017-00001), and the Research Group Funds of the Aragon Government (A14_17R). PJRM's contract is supported by a doctoral grant from the INIA-EFS, and MB's contract is funded by INIA-ESF.

Analysis of institutional authors

Blanco, MireiaAuthorLobon, SandraAuthorRamon Bertolin, JuanAuthorJoy, MargalidaCorresponding Author

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September 17, 2019
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The Inclusion of Concentrate with Quebracho Is Advisable in Two Forage-Based Diets of Ewes According to the In Vitro Fermentation Parameters

Publicated to:Animals. 9 (7): E451- - 2019-07-01 9(7), DOI: 10.3390/ani9070451

Authors: Jose Rufino-Moya, Pablo; Blanco, Mireia; Lobon, Sandra; Ramon Bertolin, Juan; Armengol, Ramon; Joy, Margalida

Affiliations

CITA Univ Zaragoza, IA2, Ctr Invest & Tecnol Agroalimentaria Aragon CITA, Avda Montanana 930, Zaragoza 50059, Spain - Author
Departament de Ciència Animal, UdL-Agrotecnio Center, Avda. de l'Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, 25198 Lleida, Spain. - Author
Grupo de investigación INPASS: Investigación en Producción Agroganadera Sostenible y Saludable. Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón - Author
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza, Avda. Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain. - Author
Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón-IA2, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), CITA-Universidad de Zaragoza, Avda. Montañana 930, 50059 Zaragoza, Spain. mjoy@aragon.es. - Author
UdL Agrotecnio Ctr, Dept Ciencia Anim, Avda Alcalde Rovira Roure 191, Lleida 25198, Spain - Author
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Abstract

Simple Summary In dry, mountainous areas, ewes are fed low-quality forages (hay or straw) indoors, although they also graze in high-quality pastures when available. Concentrate supplementation is recommended to cover high nutritional requirements during lactation. Condensed tannins (CT) of quebracho (Schinopsis balansae) can be included in the concentrate to reduce methane (CH4) emissions and ruminal degradation of protein, improving the fermentation's efficiency. Furthermore, low levels of quebracho can improve some meat and milk quality traits. The effects of the inclusion of concentrate and CT in diets depend on the level of inclusion and the quality of forage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro fermentation characteristics of diets in order to identify the most suitable one to be fed to ewes under farming conditions. The diets examined differed in quality of the forage available, comparing hay versus fresh forage diets and forage alone versus 70:30 forage:concentrate with (quebracho) or without CT (control) in each type of forage. The fresh-forage-based diets had lower gas and CH4 production and greater in vitro organic matter degradability (IVOMD) than the hay-based diets. The inclusion of quebracho concentrate increased the IVOMD in hay-based diets and reduced ammonia content in fresh-forage-based diets. Ewes receive hay or graze on fresh pastures supplemented with concentrates to fulfil their lactation requirements. Quebracho (Schinopsis balansae) can be added to change the ruminal fermentation. Fermentation parameters of forages alone and 70:30 forage:concentrate diets with control and quebracho concentrate were compared after 24 h of in vitro incubation. Fresh forage diets produced less gas (p < 0.05) and had greater IVOMD (p < 0.001), ammonia (NH3-N) content, valeric acid, branched-chain volatile fatty acid proportions, and lower propionic acid proportion than the hay diets (p < 0.01). In the hay diets, methane production increased with control concentrate (p < 0.01) and tended to decrease with quebacho concentrate (p < 0.10). The inclusion of both concentrates increased the acetic:propionic ratio (p < 0.01), and only the inclusion of quebracho concentrate increased the IVOMD (p < 0.01). In the fresh forage diets, gas and methane production increased with the inclusion of the control concentrate (p < 0.05), but methane production decreased with quebracho concentrate (p < 0.01). The inclusion of quebracho concentrate reduced the NH3-N content and valeric acid proportion (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the inclusion of quebracho concentrate would be advisable to reduce the CH4 production and NH3-N content in fresh forage diets and to increase the IVOMD in hay diets in comparison with the forages alone.

Keywords

condensed tanninsfresh foragegas productionhayin vitromethane productionCondensed tanninsDegradationDigestibilityFresh forageGas productionGas-production techniqueHayIn vitroMethane productionMicrobial protein-synthesisOrganic matter degradabilityRumen fermentationRuminal fermentationSheepTannic-acid

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Animals due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position 14/141, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Veterinary Sciences. Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 1.58, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-28, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 5
  • Scopus: 7
  • Europe PMC: 4

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-28:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 16.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 17 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 0.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Jose Rufino-Moya, Pablo) and Last Author (Joy Torrens, Margalida).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Joy Torrens, Margalida.