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Grant support

The authors thank Dr. Juan Jose Montes for his expertise and advising in the experimental process of the gas production technique and to the Poisonous Plants Research Laboratory (USDA-ARS) in Logan UT, for providing animals for ruminal fluid extraction. This study was conducted with financial support from the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture - NIFA Award No. 2016-67019-25086, the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Irrigated Pasture Project (UTA1321) and a fellowship to Sebastian Lagrange (INTA, Institute Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina). The paper is published with the approval of the Director, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, and Utah State University, as journal paper number 9199.

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Lobon, S.Author

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September 17, 2019
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Gas production kinetics and in vitro degradability of tannin-containing legumes, alfalfa and their mixtures

Publicated to:Animal Feed Science And Technology. 253 56-64 - 2019-06-01 253(), DOI: 10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2019.05.008

Authors: Lagrange, S; Lobon, S; Villalba, J J

Affiliations

Estn Expt Agr INTA Bordenave, RA-8187 Buenos Aires, DF, Argentina - Author
Univ Zaragoza, Ctr Invest & Tecnol Agroalimentaria Aragon CITA, IA2, Zaragoza 50059, Spain - Author
Utah State Univ, Dept Wildland Resources, Quinney Coll Nat Resources, Logan, UT 84322 USA - Author

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine in vitro ruminal degradability and gas production kinetics of sainfoin (Onobrichis viciifolia; SF), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus; BFT), alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.; ALF) and their binary or trinary mixtures using the gas production technique. The proportions in the mixtures represented: (1) those selected by lambs in a free-choice experiment (70:30 and 50:35:15 ratios for binary and trinary combinations, respectively), or (2) equal proportions (50:50 or 33:33:33 ratios for binary or trinary mixtures, respectively). Organic matter digestibility was greater in ALF and BFT than in SF (0.791 and 0.796 vs 0.751; P < 0.05) and this variable decreased as the proportion of SF in the binary mixtures increased. ALF showed greater (P < 0.05) gas production rates (R-Max = 17.7 ml h(-1)) than BFT (16.5 ml h(-1)) or SF (12.9 ml h(-1)), reaching half of the asymptote of gas production (Parameter B = 7.3, 7.0 and 9.5 h, respectively) and maximum gas production rates at earlier times (2.4, 2.6 and 3.0 h, respectively; P < 0.05). The potential gas production (Parameter A) was ALF (210.6 ml) > SF (198.3 ml) > BFT (187.6 ml) (P < 0.05), and gas production rates decreased relative to pure ALF as the proportions of SF or BFT increased in the mixtures (P < 0.05). The presence of two or three species in the substrate did not lead to positive associative effects. Nevertheless, lambs' preferred mixtures exhibited greater gas production rates and lower times to reach half potential gas production than mixtures formed with equal parts of each of the species (P < 0.05). Thus, mixing alfalfa with sainfoin and/or birdsfoot trefoil in a diet at a 70:30 ratio may allow sheep to maintain fermentability values as high as pure alfalfa while ingesting a diverse diet with some bioactives (e.g., condensed tannins) that provide benefits to the internal environment such as reduced bloat and ammonia formation in the rumen, as well as advantages related to dietary diversity in generalist herbivores like improvements in food intake due to reductions in sensory-specific satiety.

Keywords

AlfalfaCondensed tanninsDigestionFermentation kineticsForage mixturesIn vitro gas production kineticsMixing sainfoinPredictionPreferenceRumen fermentationRuminal fermentationSainfoinSainfoin onobrychis-viciifoliaTannin-containing legumesTemperate forages

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Animal Feed Science And Technology 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 8/63, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science.

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: 1.85, 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 Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-06, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 7
  • Scopus: 8

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 2025-07-06:

  • 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: 35.
  • 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: 36 (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: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (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

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Argentina; United States of America.