DISTRIBUTION OF CHEMICAL-CONSTITUENTS IN THE PLANT-PARTS OF 6 TROPICAL-ORIGIN FORAGE GRASSES AT EARLY ANTHESIS

The distribution of chemical constituents in the plant parts of six tropical forage grasses at early anthesis was studied. The forage grasses were guinea grass Panicum maximum (Jacq.); angleton grass Dichanthium aristatum (Poir.); gamba grass Andropogon gayanus (Kunth); buffel grass Cenchrus ciliaris (L.); birdwood grass Cenchrus setigerus (Vahl.); and rhodes grass Chloris gayana (Kunth.). Apart from ether extract, which generally decreased from the inflorescence down to the basal culm. and crude fibre, which increased from the inflorescence down to the basal culm, no clear gradient of constituents within the plants could be established for any of the forage grass species.