Determination of nutrients in 7 species of desert plants for raising livestock in inner Mongolia

: In order to accumulate the foundational information about the nutrients related to 7 species of desert plants, chemical and instrumental methods for determination were used and quantitative results were obtained as follows (%, in dry mass): calcium 0.73-3.89, phosphorus 0.043-0.34, selenium 0.026-2.8, protein 3.38-13.92, lipid 3.97-15.03, total sugar 14.89-35.78, ash 0.61-14.33, medium washing fiber 26.66-79.72, and acid washing fiber 27.03-69.01. Among the 7 species of desert plants, the total content of amino acid in the leaf and caudex ranges from 2.30% to 11.26%. Apart from Elaeagnus angusti folia, the ratios of the calcium and phosphorus both in the leaves and caudexes of the rest 6 kinds of desert plants are higher than those in the leaf powder and caudex powder of clover blossom. The selenium content is greater than the usual amount in plants; the protein content reaches the level of excellent grains; the lipid contents in leaf, caudex and whole plant are higher than those in straws of corn and wheat; the leaves have more total sugar than the caudex and the whole plant, and the high level of ash content exists in the 7 species of desert plants; and the medium washing fiber content in leaf of those plants is lower than that in clover blossom leaf powder, which is opposite to the content in caudex. Except for Haloxylon ammodendron, the acid washing fiber content in caudexes is beyond that in the caudex powder of the clover blossom. As is indicated in the data above, the 7 species of desert plants not only do meet the demands of raising livestock, but also are ideal feeding resources for the husbandry development in sandy areas.