For protein evaluation of feedstuffs for ruminants, the Streptomyces griseus protease test offers a purely enzymatic approach to estimate ruminal protein degradation. This study was conducted to determine the enzymatic crude protein (CP) degradability of alfalfa, sainfoin, and common vetch hays, which are commonly used in ruminant nutrition. To estimate CP degradation, fifteen samples from each type of hay were incubated in vitro with a commercial protease extracted from Streptomyces griseus. The incubation was carried out for 1, 4, 24, and 48 hours in a borate-phosphate buffer at pH 8. Significant differences in CP degradability values were found among all three types of hay across all incubation periods. For all incubation periods, sainfoin had the lowest CP degradability values (P < 0.05), due to its high content of cell wall components and condensed tannins (CTs). For incubation periods longer than 1 hour, common vetch had the highest CP degradability values, followed by alfalfa and sainfoin, respectively (P < 0.05). As a result, the use of the protease enzyme extracted from Streptomyces griseus was confirmed as an effective method for estimating the CP degradability of selected legume forages in the laboratory, eliminating the need for animal testing. However, since plant proteins are often embedded within carbohydrate complexes, it is recommended that future tests consider the combined use of protease and carbohydrase, particularly for sainfoin, which is rich in cell wall components and condensed tannins.

This study was conducted to investigate the NaCl impacts on germination and emergence performance of common vetch varieties. Seeds of Gülhan, Selçuk, Kubilay, Emir and Nitra were used as materials. Electrical conductivity (EC) values of NaCl solutions were 5, 10, 15 and 20 dS m-1. Distilled water (0 dS m-1) used as control. In this study germination and emergence test were applied to the varieties. In germination and emergence test mean germination time, mean emergence time, germination percentage, emergence percentage shoot length, root length, shoot fresh and dry weight were measured at the end of the 14th day after sowing. The results showed that germination and emergence percentage and the seedling growth of the varieties were inhibited by NaCl stress and NaCl stress led to increase in germination time and emergence time. Cultivars Gülhan and Emir were the least affected compared to other cultivars. Moreover increased NaCl levels gave rise to increase in Na+ content of cultivars and it was evaluated that the significant correlation (r=-0,525) between Na+ and K+. It was also determined that the correlation between two characters had negative relationship.