Abstract:

To define the forage quality of barley ‘Hua 22’ in different growth stages, the cutting was performed at jointing stage, late filling stage, milk stage and full ripe stage, and then the determination of normal composition of nutrition, fatty acid composition, amino acid composition and vomitoxin content was carried out. The results showed that with the extension of growth period, some data indexes such as crude protein, crude fat, calcium and phosphorus content dropped significantly from jointing stage to full ripe stage, but there was a significant increase in dry matter and lignin content (P<0.05). The contents of C18: 3n3 in the fatty acid composition, the total amount of amino acids, essential amino acids, flavor amino acids in the amino acid composition were significantly decreased (P<0.05). The contents of crude fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber fluctuated with stages. They increased significantly from jointing stage to late filling stage(P<0.05), and reached the maximum value at late filling stage, then decreased significantly (P<0.05). It was detected that the vomitoxin content was 560.50μg/kg at full ripe stage, but nothing was detected at jointing stage, late filling stage and milk stage. To sum up, in different growth stages, the nutrient quality of barley ‘Hua 22’ was the best at jointing stage. The crude protein and crude fat contents achieved the maximum value (20.44%, 4.71%), and the crude fiber content was the lowest (20.40%). During this period, the nutritional quality of barley ‘Hua 22’ was similar to that of ryegrass, and there was no significant difference (P>0.05). However, when entering the late filling stage, milk stage and full ripe stage, the nutritional quality of barley ‘Hua 22’ was significantly lower than that of ryegrass (P<0.05). Compared with the eared corn stalks, the nutritional quality of barley ‘Hua 22’ is higher at jointing stage and late filling stage, but lower at full ripe stage. In addition, barley ‘Hua 22’ grown in northern Fujian cannot be used as a green fodder in the full ripe stage.

Key words: Hordeum vulgare L., Forage Quality, Vomitoxin, Growth Stage, Fatty Acid Composition, Amino Acid Composition