Chemical compositions, energy contents and in situ dry matter, crude protein and organic matter degradability of second harvest alfalfa samples from Kurdistan province

The current study aimed to determine chemical compositions، energy contents and in situ dry matter (DM)، organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) degradability in the second harvest alfalfa samples collected from different regions of Kurdistan province. Chemical compositions significantly differed among the alfalfa samples collected from different regions of Kurdistan province (P<0. 05). The alfalfa samples collected from Sanandaj and Kamyaran had a higher CP content compared to the other samples (P<0. 05). Acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents were significantly higher in alfalfa samples from Baneh and Marivan than in the other samples (P<0. 05). Alfalfa samples from Sanandaj and Kamyaran had a significantly lower neutral detergent insoluble CP (NDICP) content than in the other samples (P<0. 05). Acid detergent insoluble CP (ADICP) were significantly lower in alfalfa samples collected from Baneh and Marivan than in the other samples (P<0. 05). Because of a higher total digestible nutrient at production level of intake content، digestible energy at production level of intake (DE3×)، metabolizable energy at production level of intake (ME3×)، net energy for lactation at production level of intake (NEL3×)، net energy for maintenance (NEm) and net energy for growth (NEg) were significantly higher in alfalfa samples collected from Sanandaj and Kamyaran and Ghorveh، Dehgolan and Bijar than those which collected from the other regions of Kurdistan province (P<0. 05). In contrast to DM، the kinetics of degradation of OM and CP in situ differed significantly among the alfalfa samples collected from different regions of Kurdistan province (P<0. 05). The alfalfa samples collected from Ghorveh، Dehgolan and Bijar had the highest effective CP degradability، while the lowest effective CP degradability was observed in Baneh and Marivan (P<0. 05). Also، the highest and the lowest effective OM degradability were observed for Baneh and Marivan، and Ghorveh، Dehgolan and Bijar، respectively (P<0. 05). In conclusion، the results of current study demonstrated that alfalfa samples collected from different regions of Kurdistan province differed with regard to chemical compositions، energy contents and kinetics of degradation of OM and CP in situ.