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Browse species in the Mediterranean area are an important feed source, especially during the summer/autumn period when herbaceous species senesce and do not meet animal nutrient requirements. The effect of laboratory drying method on estimated nutritive value of Arbutus andrachne, an evergreen shrub, Gleditsia triacanthos (acanthos), a deciduous leguminous shrub, and Medicago arborea, an evergreen leguminous shrub, was determined. Hand-plucked samples collected during the rapid growth period in May, and later when growth had ceased in August, were dried in either an oven or freeze-drier. The nutritive value of the samples was determined by standard laboratory techniques and an in vitro gas production technique after incubation for 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h by determining the kinetics of fermentation with the equation p = a + b(1 − e−ct). Crude protein (CP) was higher (P |
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