The interactive effects of indole acetic acid (IAA) or salicylic acid (SA) (0.5 and 0.1 mM, respectively) as shoot spraying on NaCl stressed wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plant organs grown in experimental pots under different salinity levels (0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl, respectively) were studied. The antioxidant enzymes as catalase (CAT), peroxidase (PX), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), photosynthetic pigments, reducing sugars, proteins, amino acids (AA), and proline (Prol) contents in spike, shoot and root of salt-stressed plants were the most affected parameters, specially at high salinity levels (150 and 200 mM NaCl). Treatments with 0.5 mM of IAA or 0.1 mM of SA on stressed wheat organs mitigated the detrimental effect of NaCl. Phytohormones improved salt tolerance in wheat organs activating antioxidant enzymes, increasing photosynthetic pigments and enhancing the accumulation of non toxic metabolites. The magnitude of increase was more pronounced in SA than in IAA treated plants, and the spike was the most accumulator organ of non toxic metabolites compared to shoot and root. Finally, SA and/or IAA treatments prevent the negative effects of salt stressed wheat and these could be adopted as a potential growth regulator or antioxidant to improve wheat growth under moderate salt levels. © 2013 Friends Science Publishers

The aim of this study was to assess faecal extract as microbial inoculum compared to rumen fluid for an in vitro technique in order to estimate the digestibility of browse species collected in a pasture of Central Italy. The main plants represented in the pasture area were: two grasses (Bromus hordeaceus L. and Hordeum murinum L.), five forbs (Capsella bursa-pastoris L., Crepis sancta L., Erodium malacoides L., Geranium dissectum L. and Geranium molle L.) and one legumes (Medicago arabica L.). Nutrients and mineral composition showed a high variability among browse species collected. Rumen liquor and faecal samples were collected from adult healthy yak (Bos grunniens). The DaisyII incubator system was used to evaluate the nutrient digestibility of forages using rumen liquor as control and faecal extract as alternative microbial inoculum sources. Then, filter bags containing plant samples were added to the four digestion vessels along with their respective inoculum, incubated for 48 h and dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and neutral-detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility were determined. There was a significant relationship between estimates, indicating that faecal extract has the potential to be utilized instead of rumen fluid for in vitro digestibility estimation. It is concluded that DaisyII incubator is suitable for nutrients’ in vitro digestibility determination with faecal liquor to simply assess the adaptation capability of ruminant species to a pasture.

Winter legume grains are suited as a significant source of vegetable protein for both human and livestock species, due to high protein content and the high level of unsaturated fatty acids. This research reported the effect of S fertilization on the quality of three different pulses (faba bean, lupin and pea) in terms of lipid content and fatty acid profile. For each species, randomized complete block design with three replicates was used, and three S doses (0, 30 and 60 kg ha-1, respectively) were applied. The S fertilization was split in two times: 50% before sowing and 50% in the early of March as K2SO4. Our findings indicated that the S fertilization in faba bean, lupin and pea grains led to a significant improvement of the fatty acid profile. Furthermore, the S fertilization enhanced the legume grains oil composition through the increase of unsaturated fatty acids, and in particular the remarkable decrease of the erucic acid in lupin grains.

The practice of grazing winter cereals before heading and subsequently harvesting the forage is common in some countries. Triticale (× Triticosecale Wittmack) is particularly interesting due to its nutritional characteristics, and forage yield and quality are strongly influenced by agronomic techniques. The effect of two modes of utilization (cut at heading stage and cut during winter grazing simulation with regrowth cut at heading stage), three nitrogen (N) fertilization levels [0 and 100kgha−1 split in two phases; and 100kgha−1 before sowing, using a fertilizer with 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) as a nitrification inhibitor (NI)] and mycorrhizal fungus inoculation (mixed inoculation of Glomus intraradices and Glomus moseae) on forage yield and quality, protein fractions and in vitro digestibility of triticale was determined in southern Italy. Mode of utilization and fertilization affected significantly forage yield and quality, while mycorrhizal fungus inoculation influenced positively some quality parameters. Cutting at heading stage of triticale led to high dry matter (DM) production compared to the winter cut simulating grazing, but no differences in protein yield (PY). N fertilization increased total DM and PYs, but no differences were reported among the application modalities of N fertilizers. Triticale protein fractions and protein and fiber digestibility were improved by N fertilization. Mycorrhizal fungus inoculation positively influenced forage quality at heading stage, which resulted in more digestible fiber and protein. As a result, when triticale was grown under Mediterranean conditions, mode of utilization and N fertilization resulted in greater forage yield and quality, while mycorrhizal fungus inoculation influenced positively forage nutritional quality parameters.

Pastures of the Apennines of Central Italy contribute to feed resources of high altitude (above 1,300 m sea level) grazing systems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of faecal extract from the yak (Bos grunnienes) as an alternative microbial inoculum to rumen fluid for estimation of digestibility of several forage species. Forage samples produced at high altitude were tested in this study: four legumes (Lathyrus sativus L., Lotus corniculatus L., Onobrychis viciaefolia L. and Trifolium pratense L.), three forbs (Achillea millefolium L., Potentilla reptans L. and Teucrium flavum L.) and one grass (Brachipodyum pinnatum L.) were incubated with yak rumen fluid or faecal extract. A large variability in chemical composition was observed among the species collected. Rumen liquor and faecal samples were collected from adult healthy yak. The DaisyII incubator was used to evaluate the nutrient digestibility of forages using rumen liquor as control and faecal extract as alternative microbial inoculum sources. Filter bags containing samples of browse species were added to the four digestion vessels along with their respective inoculum and then incubated for 48 h and dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral and detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility was determined. There was a significant relationship between estimates, indicating that faecal liquor has the potential to be used instead of rumen fluid for estimation of in vitro digestibility of plants. It is concluded that the DaisyII incubator results are appropriate for the determination of in vitro digestibility of nutrients using faecal liquor to define the potential for adaptation of yak to new pastures. (Key Words : Yak, Pasture Quality, Faecal Extract, In vitro Digestibility)

Emmer (Triticum dicoccum Schu¨ bler) and spelt (Triticum spelta L.) are two ancient cereal crops which have been traditionally grown in the semiarid areas of the Mediterranean basin. The renewed interest in these species has its origin in favorable quality parameters of grain. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information on hulled wheat characteristics when a whole plant is used as forage. Therefore, a field trial was carried out in southern Italy during 2010-2011 to evaluate the effect of N applications (0, 40, and 80 kg ha-1) and harvest period (cut at boots just swollen and cut at early dough) on forage yield and quality of two emmer varieties (‘‘Padre Pio’’ and ‘‘Giovanni Paolo’’) and one of spelt (‘‘Altamura’’) on their biomass yield and nutritional traits as well as carbohydrates fractionation. Data indicated that the harvest stage and genotype affected forage yield and quality significantly, while N fertilization has influenced some qualitative parameters. Old wheat cultivars tested had considerable yield and forage quality, and they seem to be adapted to marginal lands in the absence of N fertilization. Therefore, from our findings we can conclude that the emmer could be recommended for hay production harvested at booting stage given its valuable nutritional characteristics, whereas spelt results to be more adaptable for silage production when harvested at the early dough stage.

White lupin (Lupinus albus L.) is an important source of plant protein for both humans and livestock, due to high protein content, low alkaloids level, high level of unsaturated fatty acids, price and market availability in many countries. In this paper is reported the effect of S fertilization on white N fixation capability of lupin, grain yield and chemical characteristics in terms of protein fractions, fatty acid and mineral composition. Randomized complete block design with three replicates was used, and three S applications (0, 30 and 60 kg ha-1, respectively) for white lupin were used. The S fertilization was split into two: 50 % before sowing and 50 % in the early of March as K2SO4. At the same time, both the legume and oat crops were fertilized uniformly with solution of 10 kg N ha-1 15N NH4 15NO3 (10 % 15N atomic excess). Data indicated that under Mediterranean environment on sub-alkaline soil, white lupin produces low grain and protein; however, S application increased plant yield and N fixation. In conclusion, it seems that S fertilization to white lupin should be recommended to soils with sub-optimal S levels to obtain maximum seed and protein yields. Moreover, S fertilization enhanced the protein quality increasing its degradable fraction, and improved the lupin oil quality through the increase in oleic and linolenic acids and the remarkable decrease in erucic acid.

Holm oak is an important evergreen tree species in the Mediterranean environment and plays a crucial role in reforestation and ornamental plant production. However, few data are available on nitrogen nutrition of containerised nursery plants. Two greenhouse experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of i) different fertilizer sources and ii) increasing N levels on N uptake, N use efficiency and N partitioning in Holm oak plants. Seven commercial fertilizers were chosen among traditional, organic, organic-mineral, coated and stabilized categories and were supplied at the rate of 1 g N plant-1 which was found to give optimal results in other species under similar growing conditions. Four increasing N levels were compared: 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 g N plant-1. Experiments were carried out simultaneously and lasted 177 days. Relative recovery and agronomic efficiency significantly decreased from 41.5% to 16.1% and from 22.9 to 8 g g-1, respectively, with the increase in N rate. Optimal N demand was met with a total supply of 1 g plant-1. A lower rate (0.5 g) reduced mainly leaf biomass and leaf area development; a further increase (2 g) gave higher N uptakes (+17%) but not significantly higher biomass. Among fertilizer sources, the best results were achieved with the coated products while the traditional (ammonium sulfate), the organic and the organic-mineral fertilizers were less efficient. Plant growth was more affected by different fertilizer sources compared to N uptake, and this caused a wide variation of physiological efficiency values (from 20.7 to 85.8 g g-1). Biomass partitioning was highly responsive to N availability. N fertilization significantly reduced root/shoot ratio. Moderate N stress conditions influenced more leaf growth than leaf N concentration. Under the same N supply, different release times affected mainly biomass partitioning between stem and root tissues.

The shortage of forage in arid areas is an important concern and it leads us to explore alternative options as nonconventional feed resources. Among potential forage species, samples of Retama raetam (R. raetam) were collected from six different locations representing four habitat types in two diverse phytogeographical regions in Egypt during the summer and winter seasons. Soil characteristics, growth performance, and nutritional traits of R. raetam were evaluated to assess the potential value of this legume as an alternative forage source in the Mediterranean ecosystem. Data showed that soil texture across the study sites had sandy, loamy, and clayey textures, whereas pH ranged from neutral to alkaline and organic carbon was low at all sites. Growth and production of R. raetam were significantly affected by seasonal variation in rainfall and, based on our study results, this effect was more important than specific site property variations such as soil texture and organic matter contents. Moreover, data indicate that R. raetam had wide ecological amplitude and growth performance as a function of site and season. Nutritional value of R. raetam was high enough to meet the nutrient requirements of several different grazing animals. Comparing the R. raetam nutritional value with those of the other wild plants, it can be concluded that R. raetam has strong potential as forage crop with valuable nutritional quality for browsing animals. Moreover, R. raetam may represent an alternative feedstuff to the conventional forage and a promising substitute fodder in Mediterranean ecosystem.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) is an important source of plant protein for humans and animals; however, nutritional value of seeds is notoriously deficient in sulphur (S)-containing amino acids. In this article, the effect of S fertilization on faba bean's capability of N2 fixation, grain yield and chemical characteristics in terms of protein fractions, fatty acids and minerals composition is reported. A randomized, complete block design with three replicates was used, and three S applications (0, 30 and 60 kg ha−1, respectively) for faba bean were performed. The S fertilization was split into two applications: 50% before sowing and 50% in the beginning of March as K2SO4. At the same time, both the legume and oat crops were fertilized uniformly with 10 kg N ha−1 as 15N NH415NO3 (10% 15N atomic excess) in solution form. In a Mediterranean climate under optimal spring rainfall situations, faba bean produced high yield of grain and protein. Sulphur application resulted in an increase in overall plant yield and N2 fixation. In addition, S fertilization enhanced the protein quality, increasing its degradable fraction. Fertilizing faba bean with 30 kg ha−1 of S resulted in a more appropriate dose in order to obtain a quantitative and qualitative crop improvement. From our findings, it can be concluded that S fertilization to faba bean should be recommended to soils with suboptimal S levels to obtain maximum seed and protein yields. Quality, yield and nitrogen fixation of faba bean seeds as affected by sulphur fertilization (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232282045_Quality_yield_and_nitrogen_fixation_of_faba_bean_seeds_as_affected_by_sulphur_fertilization [accessed Jan 21, 2016].