Comparative nutritional evaluation of forest tree leaves and wild grasses of  semi hilly arid zone in Punjab

M P S Bakshi; M Wadhwa

doi:10.56093/ijans.v82i8.23038

Authors

M P S Bakshi Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab 141 004 India
M Wadhwa Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, Punjab 141 004 India

https://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v82i8.23038

Keywords:

Digestion kinetics, Forest tree leaves, In-sacco degradability, Mineral profile, Tannins, Wild grasses

Abstract

Samples of 26 species of forest tree leaves and 10 species of wild grasses commonly fed to livestock in the semi- hilly arid zone of Punjab State were collected at 30 day interval for 12 months. The tree leaves as compared to grasses had higher CP, EE and acid detergent lignin content, while reverse trend was observed with respect to NDF, ADF, cellulose and hemicelluloses content. The mineral profile revealed that calcium, magnesium and copper content was higher, while zinc content was lower in tree leaves as compared to grasses. But the phosphorus, iron, manganese and cobalt content was observed to be statistically comparable. The calcium and magnesium content in both the tree leaves and grasses was much higher than the requirements for dairy cattle, but both were highly deficient in P, and most of the trace elements. The antimetabolites like total tannins, condensed tannins and hydrolysable tannins were higher in tree leaves as compared to grasses by 83.2, 98.8 and 75.7%, respectively. The condensed tannins as per cent of total tannins were higher in tree leaves, while hydrolysable tannins as per cent of total tannins were higher in wild grasses. The water soluble oxalate content was comparable in tree leaves and grasses, but the concentration was much lower than the toxic level of 4%. The digestion kinetic parameters for DM and NDF also revealed that tree leaves were degraded at faster rate and had higher effective and true degradability. The rumen fill was lower in tree leaves as compared to grasses predicting higher voluntary dry matter intake in tree leaves. It was concluded that the tree leaves had greater potential as alternate feed resources as compared to wild grasses.

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