Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T12:06:56.168Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The potential use of n-alkanes, long-chain alcohols and long-chain fatty acids as diet composition markers: indoor validation with sheep and herbage species from the rangeland of Inner Mongolia of China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2011

L. J. Lin ,
X. Y. Zhu ,
C. Jiang ,
H. L. Luo ,
H. Wang ,
Y. J. Zhang  and
F. Z. Hong
L. J. Lin
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
X. Y. Zhu
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China Department of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R. China
C. Jiang
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
H. L. Luo
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
H. Wang
Affiliation:
Grassland Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, East Road 120 Wu Lan Cha Bu, Hohhot 010010, P.R. China
Y. J. Zhang*
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
F. Z. Hong
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland Science, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, West Road 2 Yuan Ming Yuan, Beijing 100193, P.R. China
*
†E-mail: zhangyj@cau.edu.cn
Get access

Abstract

To investigate the potential use of n-alkanes (alkanes), long-chain alcohols (alcohols) and long-chain fatty acids (acids) for estimating the diet composition of sheep, in a feeding trial. A total of 18 sheep were assigned randomly to three different diets (diet A, diet B and diet C) containing up to eight herbage species (Leymus chinensis, Leymus dasystachys, Elymus sibiricum, Chenopodium album, Puccinellia chinampoensis, Medicago sativa, Saussurea sinuata and Bromus inermis). Faecal recoveries of alkanes, alcohols and acids were determined, and diet compositions were estimated using different combinations of alkanes, alcohols and acids. The faecal concentrations of individual alkanes, alcohols and acids were corrected using the mean recovery of the dietary treatment that the respective animal belonged to (diet recovery), or the mean recovery across all dietary treatments (general recovery). In general, diets did not affect the faecal recovery values for alkanes, alcohols and acids, and no difference in accuracy was found between diet composition estimates based on dietary recovery and general recovery. The accuracy of diet composition estimates declined as the number of dietary components increased from four to eight herbage species (P < 0.001). Better (P < 0.05) estimates of diet composition were obtained with the combinations of two or three marker types instead of alkanes alone. Moreover, results showed that excluding minor diet components from the calculations decreased (P < 0.05) the accuracy of diet composition estimates, whereas including extra non-grazed herbage species did not reduce (P > 0.05) the quality of diet composition estimates. These results confirmed the usefulness of alkanes, alcohols and acids as markers for determining complex diet composition of sheep. However, a negative impact on the accuracy of diet composition estimates, caused by missing minor diet components from the calculation of diet composition, could happen when plant wax markers are used to estimate the diet composition of free-ranging animals.

Keywords

alkanesdiet compositionfaecal recoverylong-chain alcoholslong-chain fatty acids
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 6 , Issue 3: 61th EAAP Annual Meeting, 2010, Heraklion, Greece: 10th International Workshop on Biology of Lactation in Farm Animals (BOLFA) and Session “Evolution of mammary gland and milk secretion: consequences for lactation in farm animals” , 27 January 2012 , pp. 449 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Contributed equally to this work.

References

Ali, HAM, Mayes, RW, Hector, BL, Verma, AK, Ørskov, ER 2005. The possible use of n-alkanes, long-chain fatty alcohols and long-chain fatty acids as markers in studies of the botanical composition of the diet of free-ranging herbivores. Journal of Agricultural Science 143, 85–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ali, HAM, Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS, Hector, BL, Verma, AK, Ørskov, ER 2004. The potential of long-chain fatty alcohols and long-chain fatty acids as diet composition markers: development of methods for quantitative analysis and faecal recoveries of these compounds in sheep fed mixed diets. Journal of Agricultural Science 142, 71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brosh, A, Henkin, Z, Rothman, SJ, Aharoni, Y, Orlov, A, Arieli, A 2003. Effects of faecal n-alkane recovery in estimates of diet composition. Journal of Agricultural Science 140, 93–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bugalho, MN, Dove, H, Kelman, WM, Wood, JT, Mayes, RW 2004. Plant wax alkanes and alcohols as herbivore diet composition markers. Journal of Range Management 57, 259–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charmley, E, Dove, H 2007. Using plant wax markers to estimate diet compositon and intakes of mixed forages in sheep by feeding a known amount of alkane-labelled supplement. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 58, 1215–1225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Charmley, E 2008. Using the alkanes and long-chain alcohols of plant cuticular wax to estimate diet composition and the intakes of mixed forages in sheep consuming a known amount of alkane-labelled supplement. Animal 2, 1474–1485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 1991. The use of plant wax alkanes as marker substances in studies of the nutrition of herbivores: a review. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 42, 912–952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 1996. Plant wax components: a new approach to estimating intake and diet composition in herbivores. The Journal of Nutrition 126, 13–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dove, H, Mayes, RW 2005. Using n-alkanes and other plant wax components to estimate intake, digestibility and diet composition of grazing/browsing sheep and goats. Small Ruminant Research 59, 123–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Moore, AD 1995. Using a least-squares optimization procedure to estimate botanical composition based on the alkanes of plant cuticular wax. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 46, 1535–1544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dove, H, Mayes, RW, Freer, M, Coombe, JB, Foot, JZ 1989. Faecal recoveries of the alkanes of plant cuticular waxes in penned and in grazing sheep. Proceedings of the 16th International Grassland Congress, Nice, France, pp. 1093–1094.Google Scholar
Duncan, AJ, Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS, Young, SA, Castillo, I 1999. The use of naturally occurring and artificially applied n-alkanes as markers for estimation of short-term diet composition and intake in sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science 132, 233–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwert, C, Kluth, H, Rodehutscord, M 2004. Effect of variable intake of alfalfa and wheat on faecal alkane recoveries and estimates of roughage intake in sheep. Journal of Agricultural Science 142, 213–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elwert, C, Dove, H, Rodehutscord, M 2008. Faecal alkane recoveries from multi-component diets and effects on estimates of diet composition in sheep. Animal 2, 125–134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferreira, LMM, Oliván, M, Rodrigues, MAM, Garcia, U, Osoro, K 2005. Validation of the alkane technique to estimate diet selection of goats grazing heather-gorse vegetation communities. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 85, 1636–1646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, LMM, Garcia, U, Rodrigues, MAM, Celaya, R, Dias-da-Silva, A, Osoro, K 2007. The application of the n-alkane technique for estimating the composition of diets consumed by equines and cattle feeding on upland vegetation communities. Animal Feed Science and Technology 138, 47–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferreira, LMM, Carvalho, S, Falco, V, Celaya, R, Garcia, U, Santos, AS, Rodrigues, MA, Osoro, K 2009a. Assessment of very long-chain fatty acids as complementary or alternative natural faecal markers to n-alkanes for estimating diet composition of goats feeding on mixed diets. Journal of Animal Science 87, 2732–2745.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferreira, LMM, Celaya, R, Garcia, U, Rodrigues, MAM, Osoro, K 2009b. Differences between domestic herbivores species in alkane faecal recoveries and the accuracy of subsequent estimates of diet composition. Animal Feed Science and Technology 151, 128–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hameleers, A, Mayes, RW 1998. The use of n-alkanes to estimate herbage intake and diet composition by diary cows offered a perennial ryegrass/white clover mixture. Grass and Forage Science 53, 164–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hendricksen, RE, Reich, MM, Roberton, RF, Reid, DJ, Gazzola, C, Rideout, JA, Hill, RA 2002. Estimating the voluntary intake and digestibility of buffel-grass and lucerne hays offered to Brahman-cross cattle using n-alkanes. Animal Science 74, 567–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerbs, CJ 1989. Ecological methodology. Harper Collins, New York, NY.Google Scholar
Lin, LJ, Liu, GH, Zhang, YJ 2006. Study on the n-alkane patterns of five dominant forage species of the typical steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia of China. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge) 144, 159–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, LJ, Luo, HL, Zhang, YJ, Shu, B 2007. The effects, in sheep, of dietary plant species and animal live weight on the faecal recovery rates of alkanes and the accuracy of intake and diet composition estimates obtained using alkanes as faecal markers. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge) 145, 87–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, LJ, Luo, HL, Wang, H, Zhang, YJ, Shu, B 2009a. Evaluation of long-chain alcohols and fatty acids, in combination with alkanes, as markers in the estimation of the composition of four herbages in mixtures. Grass and Forage Science 64, 19–25.Google Scholar
Lin, LJ, Luo, HL, Zhang, YJ, Wang, H, Shu, B, Hong, FZ 2009b. The potential use of long-chain alcohols and fatty acids as diet composition markers: factors influencing faecal recovery rates and diet composition estimates in sheep. Animal 3, 1605–1612.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayes, RW, Dove, H 2000. Measurement of dietary nutrient intake in free-ranging mammalian herbivores. Nutrition Research Reviews 13, 107–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS 1984. The possible use of n-alkanes in herbage as indigestible faecal markers. Proceeding of Nutrition Society 43, 39A.Google Scholar
Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS, Colgrove, PM 1986. The use of dosed and herbage n-alkanes as markers for the determination of herbage intake. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge) 107, 161–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayes, RW, Lamb, CS, Colgrove, PM 1988. Digestion and metabolism of dosed even-chain and herbage odd-chain n-alkanes in sheep. Proceedings of the 12th General Meeting of European Grasslands Federation, pp. 159–163.Google Scholar
Mayes, R, Beresford, N, Lamb, C, Barnett, C, Howard, B, Jones, B, Eriksson, O, Hove, K, Pedersen, Ø, Staines, B 1994. Novel approaches to the estimation of intake and bioavailability of radiocaesium in ruminants grazing forested areas. Science of the Total Environment 157, 289–300.Google Scholar
Ohajuruka, OA, Palmquist, DL 1991. Evaluation of n-alkanes as digesta markers in dairy-cows. Journal of Animal Science 69, 1726–1732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salt, C, Mayes, R, Colgrove, P, Lamb, C 1994. The effects of season and diet composition on the radiocaesium intake by sheep grazing on heather moorland. Journal of Applied Ecology 31, 125–136.Google Scholar
Smith, DG, Mayes, RW, Raats, JG 2001. Effect of species, plant part, and season of harvest on n-alkane concentrations in the cuticular wax of common rangeland grasses from southern Africa. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52, 875–882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, YJ, Togamura, Y, Otsuki, K 2004. Study on the n-alkane patterns in some grasses and factors affecting the n-alkane patterns. Journal of Agricultural Science (Cambridge) 142, 469–475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar