Published in Scientific Works. Series C. Veterinary Medicine, Vol. LXIV, Issue 1
Written by Abdullah ÖZBİLGİN, Behiç COŞKUN
In this review, general characteristics of sainfoin and researches on the usability in animal feeding. Sainfoin is a perennial leguminous plant. It is a perennial feed crop with a total area of 1,914,391 hectares in Turkey. Sainfoin grows in pH 7-8 on calcareous soils on the northern slopes of valleys, plains and mountains up to 6 thousand meters in height. The content of nitrogen in the branches and leaves of the sainfoin plant is higher than in the beginning of flowering. The sainfoin contains condensed tannin. The condensed tannin removes protein degradation. Grazing ruminants may encounter many metabolic diseases related to feeding. The minimum plant condensed tannin concentration for this effect should be greater than 5 g / kg (CT) in dry matter. In the sheep study, parasitic infestation of the abomasum and small intestine causes large protein losses in sheep. İn a study reported that the presence of tannin in sheep fed had no effect on milk yield but increased the yield of tannin to 5.9%.
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