Ruminal fermentation and nutritive value assessment of selected acacia species in vitro
2009
Kamel, H.E.M. | Al-Soqeer, A.A.
This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional value of the fresh shoots This study aimed to evaluate the nutritional value of the fresh shoots of 14 Acacia species (A. coriacea, A. cuthbertsonii, A. ineguilatera, A. iteaphylla, A. kempeana, A. ligulata, A. microbotrya, A. nilotica, A. oswaldii, A. pruinocarpa, A. saligna, A. sclerosperma, A. seyal and A. Victoria) that were imported to be cultivated in Saudi Arabia, and to determine the potentiality of these species as ruminant feed resources in comparison with alfalfa hay and wheat straw. Chemical analysis and in vitro gas production technique were used as the basis for this evaluation. The crude protein (CP) content among tested Acacia spp. ranged from 8.0 to 16.7% and it was comparable in A. iteaphylla with that of a falfa hay, the values were 16.7 and 17.1 % in A. iteaphyllal and alfalfa hay, respectively. Among the tested Acacia spp, A. ineguilatera had the highest condensed tannin (CT) values, which ranged from 10.4 to 77.0 mglg dry matter (DM). Metabolizabole energy (ME, MJ/ kg DM) of the tested Acacia sppp ranged from 4.35 to 6.69 MJ/ kg DM, which could supply the animals with 5384% of the ME as in alfalfa hay. The CT/CP ratio in Acacia spp. showed a negative correlation with either organic matter digestibility (OMD, % r = -0.72, P 0.01), potential gas production (r
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