Changes in the biodegradability of ryegrass and legume fibres by chemical and biological pretreatments
1991
Morrison, I.M.
Two moderately lignified lignocellulosic substrates, ryegrass (Lolium perenne L) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L) stems, were modified by treatment with different chemical and biological reagents. The reagents were chosen to have effects on one or more of the components of the cell wall. The residues were analysed for yield of DM, composition of carbohydrate and non-carbohydrate constituents and degradability as determined by both rumen liquor and a pepsin/cellulase method. The results were compared with the previous results for a highly lignified substrate, barley straw. Both degradability methods again gave results with similar ranking, and the rumen liquor method was more efficient than the pepsin/cellulase method. In these series, only cellulase treatment gave residues with decreased degradability. Treatments attacking the core lignin gave residues with the greatest increase in degradability, but the changes were not as pronounced as for the straw owing to the lower inherent lignin contents. Some differences between the grass and the legume may be due to the higher protein and lower esterified phenolic acid content of the lucerne.
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