title: Clitoria ternatea L. as a Potential High Quality Forage Legume.
abstract: Samples of Clitoria ternatea L. (Cunhã) were harvested at 35, 50, 70, and 90 d after a uniformity harvest in a field study designed as a completely randomized design with a total of 18 experimental plots. The dry matter yield of the whole plant was separated quantitatively into leaves, stems, and pods at each harvesting age. Chemical analyses and in vitro gas production kinetics were performed to assess the quality of the plant parts. Yields, chemical composition, and estimates of gas production parameters were analyzed by fitting a mixed statistical model with two types of covariance structures as follows: variance components and an unrestricted structure with heterogeneous variances. Fast and slow gas yielding pools were detected for both leaves and stems, but only a single pool was detected for pods. The homoscedasticity assumption was more likely for all variables, except for some parameters of the gas production kinetics of leaves and stems. There was no presence of typical pods at 35 and 50 d. In the leaves, the fibrous fractions were affected, whereas the non-fibrous fractions were unaffected by the harvesting age. The harvesting age affected the majority of the chemical constituents and gas kinetic parameters related to the stems. The leaves of this legume were the least affected part by the aging process.
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Matheus Lima Corrêa
authors: ML
authors: Abreu
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Ricardo Augusto Mendonça
authors: RA
authors: Vieira
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Norberto Silva
authors: NS
authors: Rocha
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Raphael Pavesi
authors: RP
authors: Araujo
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Leonardo Siqueira
authors: LS
authors: Glória
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Alberto Magno
authors: AM
authors: Fernandes
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Paulo Drude
authors: PD
authors: de Lacerda
authors: Laboratório de Zootecnia e Nutrição Animal (LZNA), Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Agropecuárias (CCTA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil , CEP 28013-602.
authors: Antonio Gesualdi
authors: AG
authors: Júnior
keywords: Chemical Composition; Clitoria ternatea L.; Forage Yield; Gas Production Kinetics