Relationship between tannin contents and short-term biological responses in male rabbits supplemented with leaves of different acacia tree species grown in Limpopo province of South Africa

摘要

ThisstudyrelatedtheamountsandtypesoftanninsinsomeacaciatreespeciesgrowninLimpopoprovincetoeffectsonshort-termbiologicalresponsesinrabbits.EightNewZealandWhitemalerabbitswithameanliveweightof0.68±0.05kgwererandomlyassignedtometaboliccratesinatwo4x4LatinSquaredesign.Thefourdietarytreatmentswereacontroldiet(groundrabbitfeed),controldietmixedwithAcaciakarrooleafmeal(4%ofdiet),controldietmixedwithAcacianiloticaleafmeal(4%ofdiet)orcontroldietmixedwithAcaciatortilisleafmeal(4%ofdiet).nbsp;Therewerenodifferences(P0.05)indietintakesanddigestibilitiesbetweenthetreatments.However,rabbitsonAcaciatortilisdietdrankmore(P0.05)waterthanthoseontheothertreatments.FaecalDMandnitrogenoutputs,urineoutput,urinenitrogenoutputandnitrogenretentioninrabbitswerenotaffected(P0.05)bysupplementation.Nitrogendigestibilityandretentionweremostaccuratelypredictedbycontentsoftotalphenolics,radialdiffusion,precipitablephenolicsbyfilterpaperandpolyethyleneglycolintheleaves.nbsp;Extractedcondensedtannincontentsprovidednoreliableindicationofdietdrymatterandnitrogendigestibilities,andfaecalnitrogenoutputinrabbits.