Evaluation of the Effects of Digestibility and Gas Produced of Sainfoin and Alfalfa Hay in Laboratory Conditions by Adding Different Levels of Yarrow and Ginger Powder

Animal nutritionists are looking for alternative compounds with the ability to improve the fermentation process. Probiotics and medicinal plants can be mentioned among these alternative compounds. Yarrow and ginger can be mentioned among medicinal plants that have antimicrobial properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of yarrow and ginger powder on the digestibility and gas production of sainfoin and alfalfa hay in laboratory conditions.

For this purpose, the in vitro digestibility of sainfoin and alfalfa hay and a mixture of 50% alfalfa and 50% sainfoin were measured due to the use of yarrow and ginger powder by Tilley and Terry's modified Holden method. So that different levels of yarrow and ginger powder at three levels of zero, 1.5 and 3% were added to 100 ml syringes containing alfalfa, sainfoin, and a mixture of alfalfa and sainfoin, and the amount of gas produced by incubating the syringes at times 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours of measurement and the resulting data were analyzed in a completely randomized design.

The results showed that the addition of 3% of ginger and Yarrow powder in sainfoin hay increased the digestibility of dry matter from 55.71 to 68.76 and 74.65% (P=0.0458), the digestibility of organic matter in dry matter from 52.62 to 64.95 and 62.09 percent (P=0.0468) and metabolizable energy increased from 8.42 to 10.39 and 9.93 MJ kg-1 DM (P=0.0489) by Holden's method, respectively. While the use of ginger and yarrow powder did not have a significant effect on the digestibility of organic matter, the digestibility of organic matter in dry matter and metabolizable energy of alfalfa and alfalfa- sainfoin mixture. The results related to the digestibility according to the McNiven method showed that the addition of 1.5 and 3% of yarrow and ginger powder in sainfoin and alfalfa hay could reduce the amount of gas production at times 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours of incubation. However, the addition of yarrow and ginger powder to alfalfa- sainfoin mixture did not have a significant effect on the amount of gas produced. The results of the gas test method showed that the addition of 1.5% and 3% of yarrow and ginger in sainfoin and alfalfa hay reduced the digestibility of organic matter, total short chain fatty acids and metabolizable energy compared to the control group. Among these, 3% of ginger has the most significant reducing effect on the digestibility of organic matter from 67.80 to 50.14 and 45.99% (P=0.0092), total short chain fatty acids from 1.77 to 0.76 and 0.66 milli moles (p=0.0183) and metabolizable energy from 9.88 to 7.47 and 6.79 MJ kg-1 DM (P=0.0167) respectively in sainfoin hay. Also, this similar decreasing trend continued in alfalfa hay for the nutritional parameters of the gas test. A mixture of alfalfa and sainfoin was not affected by the addition of different levels of yarrow and ginger.

It is concluded that the addition of 1.5 and 3% levels of yarrow and ginger powder in sainfoin and alfalfa hay could not improve the amount of gas production.