RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROTEIN-PRECIPITATING CAPACITY OF FODDER TREE LEAVES AND THEIR TANNIN CONTENT

Protein-precipitating capacity (PPC), milligrams of protein precipitated in a solution by 100 mg tanniferous forages, of fodder tree leaves of Bauhinia racemosa, Dichrostachys nutans, Ficus bengalensis, Ficus religiosa, Gymnosporia spinosa, Prosopis cineraria and Zizyphus nummularia was determined using a 0.3% solution of bovine serum albumin (BSA) or groundnut cake albumin (GNCA) in 0.2 M acetate buffer, pH 5.0, containing 0.17 M. NaCl. The PPC of tree leaves was 2.10-13.88 in the case of BSA and 1.82-8.39 in the case of GNCA. The PPC of tree leaves using BSA was significantly positively correlated with PPC using GNCA and with the contents of total polyphenols, tannins, condensed tannins and with their relative degree of polymerization.