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Performance of sheep grazing in pastures of Brachiaria decumbens, Brachiaria brizantha, Panicum maximum, and Andropogon gayanus with different protodioscin concentrations

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Abstract

Brachiaria spp. are the most important grasses for ruminants in central-western Brazil. However, the use of these pastures is limited by their toxicity due to steroidal saponins. This experiment was conducted for 60 days to demonstrate the resistance of sheep raised on Brachiaria spp. pastures to steroidal saponin poisoning. The experiment was composed by 48 animals randomly divided into four groups (n = 12). Among them, 32 4- to 5-month-old castrated male crossbred Santa Inês sheep, originating from flocks that had been grazing on Brachiaria spp. for more than three consecutive years, and 16 were non-adapted (naïve) sheep from flocks that never had prior contact with pastures of Brachiaria spp. were randomly divided into four groups. Each of the four experimental groups was composed by eight adapted and four non-adapted animals. The four experimental groups were introduced into paddocks, each of which contained a single grass: either Brachiaria decumbens, Brachiaria brizantha, Panicum maximum, or Andropogon gayanus. The addition of the naïve sheep to the groups was designed to detect pastures’ toxicity to naïve sheep and to adjust the stocking rate to optimize the use of forage. The weight gains of sheep grazing on B. decumbens, B. brizantha, and P. maximum were similar; however, the A. gayanus group showed lower weight gains compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). The mean serum activities of γ-glutamyltransferase in the sheep grazing on B. decumbens were higher than those in the sheep from the other groups. No significant differences among the groups were found in aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, albumin, or total protein serum concentrations. No clinical signs were observed in the adapted sheep in any of the pastures. Of the four non-adapted sheep introduced into the B. decumbens pasture, two showed clinical signs of steroidal saponin poisoning, and one died. No clinical signs were observed in the non-adapted sheep in the other pastures. The saponin (protodioscin) concentrations in the pastures varied from 3.3 to 12.2 g/kg DM in B. decumbens, from 2.8 to 9.1 g/kg DM in B. brizantha, and from 1 to 1.5 g/kg DM in A. gayanus. No saponins were found in P. maximum. It is concluded that sheep from flocks reared in pastures of B. decumbens and B. brizantha were resistant to steroidal saponin poisoning and showed similar weight gains to those of sheep grazing in other tropical pastures.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the financial support of the projects “Poisoning of sheep in Brachiaria spp. pasture in the Midwest” and “Control and prevention of Brachiaria spp. poisoning in sheep in the Midwest” grants 475777/2007-7 and 308700/2009-0 and the National Institute of Science and Technology for the Control of Plant Poisoning grant 573534/2008-0.

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, P.O box 4508, L4 North Av., Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    Cristiane Vinhaes Gracindo & Márcio Botelho de Castro

  2. Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture/USP, P.O box 96, Centennial Avenue, 303, Piracicaba, SP, 13400-970, Brazil

    Helder Louvandini

  3. Veterinary Hospital, Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus Patos, Patos, PB, 58700-000, Brazil

    Franklin Riet-Correa

  4. Department of Veterinary Pathology, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, 79074-902, Brazil

    Marcos Barbosa-Ferreira

Authors
  1. Cristiane Vinhaes Gracindo
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  2. Helder Louvandini
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  3. Franklin Riet-Correa
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  4. Marcos Barbosa-Ferreira
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  5. Márcio Botelho de Castro
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Correspondence to Márcio Botelho de Castro.

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Gracindo, C.V., Louvandini, H., Riet-Correa, F. et al. Performance of sheep grazing in pastures of Brachiaria decumbens, Brachiaria brizantha, Panicum maximum, and Andropogon gayanus with different protodioscin concentrations. Trop Anim Health Prod 46, 733–737 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-014-0556-y

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