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Effect of Source and Season on Apparent Digestibility of Carotene in Forage by Cattle¹

Department of Dairy Science, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Gainesville 32601

ABSTRACT

Digestibility of carotene and dry matter in forage was determined in 445 individual digestion trials involving 35 animals. Forage was provided in the form of hay, silage, greenchop, or pasture. Plants investigated included seven grasses, six legumes or legume mixtures, and eight lots of alfalfa hay used as a control feed. Digestibilities of carotene and dry matter were correlated with dry matter content of the plant, with zero-order correlations of r = -0.21 (P = 0.05) and r = -0.33 (P < 0.01), respectively. Except for some possible effects on grazing animals, carotene content and digestibility appeared to be essentially unrelated, r = -.05 (P > 0.05). The over-all mean digestibility of carotene was 77.7%; of dry matter, 55.3%. Month, form, plant, and dry matter content had significant effects on digestibility of carotene. Significant effects on digestibility of dry matter were month, year, form, and plant. Fitting of least-squares constants accounted for 39 and 44% of the total variability in the two digestibilities. In no case was variability among animals an important source of error.

¹ Florida Agricultural Experiment Station Journal Series, no. 3301.