Energy in Halophytes

Abstract

In climatically unfavorable regions, the animals often consume the only available feed resource, i.e., halophytic plants. It was noticed that whenever halophytes are solely fed to animals, they need energy supplementation. Halophytic plant species vary greatly with respect to their chemical composition and nutritive value. Halophytes are characterized by great salt concentrations and high contents of acid detergent fiber and neutral detergent fiber. Halophytes are low-quality forages having fewer available nutrients and thus, requiring larger amounts of supplements to be added. They require energy supplementation more than any other kind of supplementation. Supplemental feeds are usually cereal grains. This chapter discusses in-depth and in detail the issue of halophytic energy when provided as animal feed (i.e., carbohydrates in halophytes, the effect of salinity on the carbohydrate content of halophytes, the effect of season on the carbohydrate content of halophytes, and the discrepancy in energy determination).

Keywords: ADF, Carbohydrates, Chemical composition, Energy, Feed quality, Fiber, Halophytes, NDF, Nutritive value, Salinity, Salt, Supplement.