Nitrate
Forage plants and water are common sources of high levels of nitrates.
Some of the causes of abnormal accumulation of nitrates in plants are:
nitrogen fertilizaton, drought conditions and some herbicidal treatments.
Nitrate accumulation also largely depends on the type of plant. Some of
the most common grasses that accumulate nitrate are sudan grass, oats,
rape, wheat, barley, and corn. Although in the rumen nitrate is readily
reduced to nitrite and then to ammonia, the consumption of plant materials
with high levels of nitrate will lead to an acute intoxication. This process
is closely related to increased concentrations of nitrite in the rumen
which leads to the production of methaemoglobin, a substance that interferes
with the ability of blood cells to carry oxygen when concentrations reach
30-40% of total hemoglobin concentrations. Some of the clinical signs of
nitrate intoxication are abdominal pain , labored breathing, and cyanotic
mucous membranes. Increased dietary nitrate, however, induces a change
in the bacterial population that leads to an increased tolerance to high
nitrate concentrations in the diet. Nitrate reduction in the rumen competes
with other essential metabolic reactions such as mathanogenesis, end-product
formation, and microbial protein synthesis, and its toxicity reduces growth,
causes Vitamin A deficiency, abortion, infertility, and goiter.
This series of web pages was created by an undergraduate student at Cornell University for the AS625 class. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
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