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The nutritive value of Ceratonia siliqua and Gleditsia triacanthos pods was determined on the basis of their chemical composition, in vitro gas production and rumen fermentation end-products. Medicago sativa was used as a reference feed material. The studied samples showed differences in chemical composition and phenolic compounds. Crude protein (CP) content was particulary low (80 g/kg DM) in carob and higher in Medicago sativa and G. triacanthos pods with (159.79 and 121.56 g/kg DM, respectively). Inclusion of Polyethylene glycol (PEG) in fermentation medium results in a significant increase (P<0.05) of gas production in Ceratonia siliqua and Gleditsia triacanthos and no effect was observed with M. sativa. The highest values of gas production were observed for C. siliqua and G. triacanthos, whereas Medicago sativa had significantly low values. The highest asymptotic gas production was observed in Ceratonia siliqua and Gleditsia triacanthos (296.80 and 289.55 mL g-1 DM, respectively), whereas Medicago sativa recorded the lowest value (243.64 mL g-1 DM). The concentration of acetate differentiated two groups: Medicago sativa and Gleditsia triacanthos (86.58 and 66.32% respectively), while the fermentation of Ceratonia siliqua resulted in a lower acetate concentration (59.84%). Although there were noticeable differences among the three studied samples, Ceratonia siliqua and Gleditsia triacanthos pods showed better nutritional quality, indicating that they could be considered promising and interesting sources of feed for sheep during the dry season or as supplement to low quality diets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of current experiment was to determine the effects of honey locust pods (HLP) as carbohydrate source on the fermentation, aerobic stability, in vitro gas production, microbiological characteristics of alfalfa (Medicagosativa L.) silages in laboratory conditions. Honey locust pods was applied at 0 (control), 20,40,60, 80 and 100 g/kg DM levels to alfalfa forage harvested at full bloom stage and chopped to about 1.5-2.0 cm length. Supplementation of HLP had a significant (P<0.01) effect on the chemical composition of alfalfa silage depending on the level of HLP supplementation. The supplementation of HLP significantly (P<0.01) decreased the crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), crude ash (CA), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) whereas the water soluble content (WSC) and total tannin (U) increased with increasing level of HLP.The supplementation of HLP decreased the pH, acetic acid, butyric acid and ammonia-N (NH3-N) whereas the supplementation of HLP increased the lactic acid and propionic acid content of alfalfa silage (P<0.01). The supplementation of HLP significantly (P<0.01) increased the in vitro gas production, digestible organic matter (DOM), metabolizable energy (ME), lactic acid bacteria and yeast whereas mould decreased. On the other hand the supplementation of HLP improved the aerobic stability of alfalfa silage decreasing the CO2 production. As a conclusion the HLP can be used as a silage additive in the level of 80 and 100 g/kg DM when alfalfa plant is ensiled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]