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Seasonal Changes in an Enzyme Inhibitor and Tannin Content in Sericea Lespedeza¹

We sampled 10 high- and two low-tannin plants of sericea (Lespedeza cuneata (Dumont) G. Don) at 2-week intervals from May 17 to October 18 by taking two or three stems from the numerous original spring crown shoots. Aqueous leaf extracts of all samples were tested for concentration of an enzyme-inhibitor substance (a fraction of the total tannin) by measuring its inhibition of one pectinase and two cellulases. Most of the samples were also tested for concentrations of two other tannin fractions, astringent tannin and leucoanthocyanidin. In the common high-tannin sericea plants all tannin fractions rose from low initial levels to high levels in July, with a gradual return to low levels in October. The low-tannin plants were quite low for all tannin fractions throughout the season. Although the inhibitor concentration followed the other tannins in a general way during the season, it was not closely correlated with the astringent tannin or the leucoanthocyanidin, neither for sampling date nor over the high-tannin plants. The inhibitor concentration for a given date or genotype appears to be relatively independent of the accumulation of other tannins. The implications of tannin concentration in the utilization of sericea forage were discussed briefly.

Key Words: Cellulase • Pectinase • Rumen fermentation

² Research Agronomist, Plant Science Research Division, ARS, USDA; Research Chemist, Food Fermentation Laboratory, Southern Marketing and Nutrition Research Division, ARS, USDA; and Associate Professor of Animal Science, North Carolina State University (present address: Chemistry Department, Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station, Experiment).

Received for publication May 3, 1971.