Relationship of Lignification to In Vitro Cellulose Digestibility of Grasses and Legumes

The digestibility of forage cellulose in the artificial rumen has been compared with lignin content of four grasses and three legumes cut at three stages of maturity. Lignin content was negatively correlated with in vitro cellulose digestibility at the 12-hr. time period for grasses and legumes, although the regression equations for the two groups were significantly different. Lignification was linearly related to cellulose digestibility as the grasses matured; however, this relationship did not exist for alfalfa.