BOVINE CATTLE FED WITH BRACHIARIA AND ANDROPOGON GRASS: PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION OF THE AMOUNT OF SPORES OF THE PITHOMYCES CHARTARUM FUNGUS AND SAPONINE AMOUNTS

Authors

  • Cecilia Nunes Moreira Universidade Federal de Goiás
  • Vera Lúcia Banys Universidade Federal de Goiás
  • Bruno Carvalho Rosa Universidade Federal de Goiás
  • Antonio Silva Pinto Veterinário Autônomo
  • Luiz Antonio da Silva Franco Universidade Federal de Goiás
  • Mitsue Haragushi Instituto Biológico
  • Maria Clorinda Soares Fioravanti Universidade Federal de Goiás

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5216/cab.v10i1.1055

Abstract

Great percentage of brazilian beef cattle is reared forage based diets, often using high density systems. This contributes for appearance of diseases, amongst such as hepatogenous photosensitivity, whose the ethiology has been under constant debate. This work aims to evaluate the amount of spores of Pithomyces chartarum fungus, the saponine amount in the grasses and the performance of cattle fed Brachiaria or Andropogon grass. 50 Nellore bulls were divided into two groups of 25 animals and each group fed one of the two types of grasses (Brachiaria or Andropogon). They were weighed from weaning to slaughter. The animals fed with Andropogon grass showed better performance especially during the dry season. The carcass dressing revealed a significant difference (p<0.05), respectively, with an average (54.9%) for the Andropogon-fed animals and (53.13%) for the animals feeding Brachiaria. The Brachiaria grass revealed greater saponine concentrations (0.03% to 1.09%) when compared to the Andropogon grass (0.02% to 0.17%). Both types of grass presented approximate average values of P. chartarum with counts varying between 0 to 50000 spores/g of pasture. It was concluded even both types of grasses had spores of P. chartarum and presented protodyosin saponins, the better animal performance  was observed in animals fed with Andropogon grass.

KEY WORDS: Nelore, sporisdesmin, tropical grasses, weight gain.

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Author Biography

Cecilia Nunes Moreira, Universidade Federal de Goiás

Professor Assitente 3 lotada no Campus de Jataí-UFG. Doutoranda em Ciência Animal com data de conclusão prevista para 12/12/2006. Disciplinas que ministra: Clínica Médica Animal I e II na área de Grandes Animais

Published

2009-04-03

How to Cite

MOREIRA, C. N.; BANYS, V. L.; ROSA, B. C.; PINTO, A. S.; FRANCO, L. A. da S.; HARAGUSHI, M.; FIORAVANTI, M. C. S. BOVINE CATTLE FED WITH BRACHIARIA AND ANDROPOGON GRASS: PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION OF THE AMOUNT OF SPORES OF THE PITHOMYCES CHARTARUM FUNGUS AND SAPONINE AMOUNTS. Brazilian Animal Science/ Ciência Animal Brasileira, Goiânia, v. 10, n. 1, p. 184–194, 2009. DOI: 10.5216/cab.v10i1.1055. Disponível em: https://revistas.ufg.br/vet/article/view/1055. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2024.

Issue

Section

Veterinary Medicine