Chemical composition, in vitro digestibility and palatability of nine plant species for dromedary camels in the province of Semnan, Iran

Abstract

This work studied the chemical composition of plants, and their digestibility and palatability to camels, selecting plants most eaten by camels from the Iranian desert of the province of Semnan. The results indicated that the order of usefulness, from the most useful, was: Salsola arbuscula, Seidlitzia rosmarinus, Suaeda fruticosa, Alhagi camelorum, Haloxylon ammodendron, Halostachys spp., Tamarix tetragyna, Tamarix stricta and Hammada salicornica. No correlation was detected between the organic matter
digestibility in dry matter and chemical composition, and there was no consistent relationship between either of these variables and palatability.