Nutritive value of introduced bamboo species in the northwestern Himalayas, India

Bamboos are used extensively for a variety of purposes, and many new species have been introduced to the northwestern Himalaya. However, their potential as a fodder species has not been investigated. Six bamboo species, namely Dendrocalamus hamiltonii Gamble, Dendrocalamus asper (Schult. and Schult.f.) Backer ex K. Heyne, Melocanna baccifera (Roxb.) Kurz, Phyllostachys aurea Riviére and C. Riviére, Phyllostachys bambusoides Sieb and Zucc. and Phyllostachys pubescens (Pradelle) Mazel ex J. Houz. were evaluated for their nutritional value, relative palatability and best lopping time. Dry matter (DM), ether extract (EE), and crude fibre varied from (37.0–67.7)%, (4.7–7.6), and (22.1–37.9)%, respectively. Values of crude protein ranged from (12.2–17.1)%, total ash (TA) from (11.8–21.5)%, acid insoluble ash (AIA) from (0.3–0.5)%, nitrogen free extract from (31.1–40.8)%, carbohydrates from (57.0–69.0)%, organic matter (OM) from (78.5–88.2)%, calcium from (1.7–2.3)%, phosphorus from (0.4–0.8)%, potassium from, (0.9–1.6)%, magnesium from (0.5–0.9)%, sodium from (603.7–1072.7) × 10⁻⁶ and vitamin A from (21.1–30.5) × 10⁻² mg/g, respectively. D. hamiltonii had maximum values for DM, EE, TA and AIA. OM and vitamin A were highest in M. baccifera. CF and carbohydrates were maximized in P. aurea and CP in P. pubescens. All the values obtained for different bamboo species were less than maximum tolerable concentration of common feed resources of the region thereby indicating their suitability for nutrition and palatability. The contents of anti-nutritional factors, namely hydrocyanic acid and tannin ranged from (33.8–61.7) × 10⁻² mg/g and (0.7–1.9)%, respectively. P. pubescens was the best species from a palatability point of view and has maximum crude protein content (17.2%), Ca (2.3%) and lowest tannin content (0.7%). The relative palatability of introduced bamboo species followed trend: P. pubescens (97.6%) > D. hamiltonii (92.5%) > P. bambusoides (81.2%) > D. asper (76.9%) > M. baccifera (75.9%) > P. aurea (73.4%). The optimum months for lopping these species for green leaves are November and December, as the nutritional value declines sharply thereafter.