Comparison of nutritional value of seaweed Sargassum ungustifolium in coasts of Bushehr province with seaweed Cystoseira indica in coasts of Sistan and Baluchestan province for ruminants feeding

This research was carried out to compare the nutritional value of two seaweeds in coasts of Bushehr province (Sargassum ungustifolium) and Sistan and Baluchestan province for ruminants feeding. To determine the digestibility, each seaweed was mixed in 10, 15 and 20 percent ratios with dry alfalfa, and each feed was tested by fecal sampling method on four adult male sheep. Six treatments consisted of three feeds containing Sargassum and three feed containing Cystoseira in a randomized complete block design. The chemical composition of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and gross energy (GE) for Sargassum were 92.6, 58.6, 8.4, 16.9, 16.6 percent and 2316 cal/g, respectively and for Cystoseira were 93.2, 82.2, 15.2, 38.17, 27.7 percent and 3267 cal/g, respectively. The results showed that nutrients percentage of mentioned above, was increased significantly, except for DM of Cystoseira in comparison with Sargassum. Among the treatments of Sargassum and Cystoseira feeds, the best nutrients digestibility coefficient was in 20 percent treatment of Cystoseira feed that for DM, OM, CP, NDF, ADF and GE were 58.8, 60.8, 64.5, 49.7, 50.8 and 62.1 percent, respectively. Totally, the results showed that due to higher CP and GE and lower Ash (higher OM) in Cystoseira rather than Sargassum, it is more suitable for ruminant feeding and the most suitable level of Cystoseira is 20 percent.