Abstract
In our endeavor to identify salt-tolerant plants with potential veterinary uses in ruminants’ production strategies, we focused on Cladium mariscus L. Pohl (sawgrass), due to its high total phenolic and tannin content, anti-radical properties, and ethnomedicinal uses. Aerial parts were collected along the year in Southern Portugal and evaluated for the nutritional profile and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD), aiming for its use as feed. Acetone extracts were appraised for total contents in phenolics (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), and tannins (CTC), as well as the chemical composition by HPLC-DAD and in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, targeting its exploitation as phytotherapeutic products. Sawgrass biomass has a limited nutritive value, due to its high neutral detergent fiber (NDF; 596–690 g kg−1 dry matter (DM)) and acid detergent fiber (ADF; 330–418 g kg−1 DM) contents, low crude protein (51.8–87.3 g kg−1 DM) and IVOMD (172–317 g kg−1 organic matter (OM)). Despite differences among seasons, the mineral profile was adequate. The extracts were rich in TPC (88–112 mg g−1), CTC (115–169 mg g−1), and TFC (18.5–20.2 mg g−1), and displayed significant antioxidant capacity, particularly in summer and autumn, whilst no seasonal influence was detected for anti-inflammatory properties (30% reduction of nitric oxide production). Eleven phenolics were quantified: chlorogenic, ferulic, and syringic acids were the most abundant, especially in the autumn sample. Overall, despite the low nutritional interest, sawgrass extracts hold the potential as a source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phenolic compounds.
Highlights
Climate changes will have a strong impact on the Mediterranean area by significantly increasing drought, temperature, and evapotranspiration by the end of the 21st century [1,2].This will negatively affect the agriculture and animal production by leading to soil and water salinization and degradation, freshwater scarcity, reduced crops yield and quality, and livestock losses [3].Ruminants have a significant role in the Mediterranean Basin, and their production depends on costly feed supplementation strategies, mostly due to feed shortages during dry seasons [4]
The phenolic content and nitric oxide production results are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM), while results on the antioxidant properties are expressed as the concentration that results in a 50% inhibition (IC50 )
The ash content of sawgrass was lower than those reported for other salt-tolerant plants [5,33], such as species belonging to Chenopodiaceae, Juncaceae, Tamaricaceae, and Zygophyllaceae genera
Summary
Climate changes will have a strong impact on the Mediterranean area by significantly increasing drought, temperature, and evapotranspiration by the end of the 21st century [1,2] This will negatively affect the agriculture and animal production by leading to soil and water salinization and degradation, freshwater scarcity, reduced crops yield and quality, and livestock losses [3]. Other species have ethnoveterinary uses [8], for example, Pistacia lentiscus L., as antiparasitic and for the treatment of bloat, constipation, and dermatological ailments These plants are characterized by high total levels of phenolic compounds, including tannins and flavonoids [9]. Salt-tolerant plants hold a high potential to be explored to develop novel nutritional and health management strategies for animal farming systems, especially in the context of climate change and soil and water salinization. We conducted a nutritional evaluation to ruminants of C. mariscus biomass collected along the year coupled with a chemical and biological characterization of its extracts
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