Equine atypical myopathy: consumption of sycamore maple seedlings (Acer pseudoplatanus) by pastured horses is driven by seedling maturity and might be associated with phenolic compounds.
- Journal Article
Summary
This research investigates the grazing behavior of pastured horses towards sycamore maple seedlings and the potential for phenolic compounds in the plants to act as deterrents. The study found that horses consumed a larger proportion of juvenile seedlings compared to older ones, suggesting a correlation with the alteration in phenolic compounds found in the plants as they mature.
Objective
The main aim of the research is to analyze two things:
- The differences in the development stages of the sycamore maple seedlings in terms of phenolic compounds. These compounds are hypothesized to act as deterrents for foraging horses.
- To systematically observe the selection and consumption behavior of pastured horses towards sycamore maple seedlings.
Methods
The researchers characterized the phenolic profiles of sycamore maple seedlings at five developmental stages, from fruits to seedlings to adult leaves. They also used video recordings to monitor the grazing behavior of 29 pastured horses, resulting in 117 grazing incident sequences.
Results
Out of the seedlings presented to them, the horses consumed 19.1% of the younger seedlings but only 5.46% of older seedlings. The younger seedlings had 1.65 mg of total phenolics per g fresh weight and contained 82 different compounds, while older seedlings contained 8.48 mg total phenolics per g fresh weight and had 120 distinct compounds.
Conclusions
The research confirms that horses are aware of the differences between seedlings at different stages of development. The decrease in consumption of older seedlings correlated with an increase in phenolic compounds, supporting the hypothesis that these compounds can act as a natural deterrent to grazing horses. However, the study underscores that the deterrent effect is not complete, indicating that other factors may also influence grazing behaviors.
Cite This Article
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Institute for Animal Nutrition, Tierarztliche Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany sabine.aboling@tiho-hannover.de.
- Department of Safety and Quality of Fruit and Vegetables, Max Rubner-Institute Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany.
- Department of Safety and Quality of Fruit and Vegetables, Max Rubner-Institute Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany.
MeSH Terms
- Acer / chemistry
- Acer / toxicity
- Animals
- Behavior, Animal
- Eating
- Female
- Germany
- Horse Diseases / chemically induced
- Horses / psychology
- Male
- Muscular Diseases / chemically induced
- Muscular Diseases / veterinary
- Phenols / analysis
- Phenols / toxicity
- Plant Poisoning / veterinary
- Seedlings / chemistry
- Seedlings / toxicity
Conflict of Interest Statement
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Aboling S. Do Poisonous Plants in Pastures Communicate Their Toxicity? Meta-Study and Evaluation of Poisoning Cases in Central Europe. Animals (Basel) 2023 Dec 8;13(24).
- Engel AM, El-Khatib AH, Klevenhusen F, Weiss M, Aboling S, Sachse B, Schäfer B, Weigel S, Pieper R, Fischer-Tenhagen C. Detection of Hypoglycin A and MCPrG Metabolites in the Milk and Urine of Pasture Dairy Cows after Intake of Sycamore Seedlings. J Agric Food Chem 2023 Jul 19;71(28):10751-10760.
