Leaf ruminal digestion in Sorghum bicolor cultivars as influenced by water deficit

ABSTRACT

A study was carried out on the effects of water deficit upon the specific leaf digestion of two sorghum cultivars Novillero and Leoti Red. Using scanning electron microscopy it was established that after ruminal incubation, losses of structural integrity increased when the plants were submitted to drought conditions. This increase was marked in cv. Novillero after 48 h of digestion. For both cultivars, the phloem, mesophyll, parenchyma and epidermis were the most susceptible tissues to bacterial attack. The alterations in tissue disappearance during digestion, could partially explain the effects of water deficit upon the improvement in the nutritional quality of the two cultivars studied.