Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-hw7sx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T07:07:36.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The composition and nutritive value of bracken

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

F. E. Moon  and
A. K. Pal
F. E. Moon
Affiliation:
The Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture
A. K. Pal
Affiliation:
The Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Samples of bracken were taken at regular intervals between June and October from a hill grazing where losses of cattle from ‘bracken poisoning’ had occurred in previous years. These were separated into leaf and stem for analysis. Dry, mature bracken cut in October was examined for digestibility and nutritive value, and in the following season the digestibility of fresh, green bracken was determined for both cattle and sheep.

Chemical composition. Analyses of the fresh bracken fed in the digestibility trials were in line with those of the samples collected in the previous year. Crudeprotein content was high in June and July, but fell markedly in August and September, whilst the crude fibre varied in the opposite direction, increasing markedly in August. An increase in the tannin content was observed in September but this was not comparable with the increases reported by Shearer. An attempt to elucidate the significance of tannin in the in vitro digestion of bracken-leaf protein was unsuccessful. The potassium content was found to be rather lower than in good pasture grass, confirming the findings of Ferguson & Armitage. The potassium was highly soluble in water but the soluble part was not entirely in the form of chloride.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , July 1949 , pp. 296 - 301
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1949

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.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Berry, R. A., Robinson, G. W. & Russell, E. J. (1918). J. Bd Agric. 25, 1.Google Scholar
Ferguson, W. S. & Armitage, E. R. (1944). J. Agric. Sci. 34, 165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferguson, W. S. & Neave, O. (1944). J. Agric. Sci. 34, 172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, C. A. (1924). Analyst, 49, 162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenthaler, L. (1930). The Chemical Investigation of Plants, p. 118. London: Bell.Google Scholar
Russell, E. J. (1908). J. Bd Agric. 15, 481.Google Scholar
Shearer, G. D. (1945). J. Comp. Path. 55, 301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. M. & Fenton, E. W. (1944). J. Soc. Chem. Ind., Lond., 63, 218.Google Scholar