The oxalate content of some Queensland pasture plants

Abstract

In 1948, the Department became interested in oxalate intake as one of the factors possibly associated with the occurrence of carbonate calculi in the urinary tract of sheep. The oxalate content of a number of the pasture plants grazed by sheep in Queensland was therefore determined, and the results are presented in this paper. The water-soluble and total oxalate contents of 80 species of pasture plants were determined by K.W. Moir's modification (in press) of the method of Myers. The results are expressed as percentage of oxalic acid on a moisture-free basis.