Chemical composition, in sacco degradation and in vitro gas production of some Ghanaian browse plants

The nutritive value of leaves from four Ghanaian fodder trees, that is, Spondias mombin, Antiaris toxicaria, Baphia nitida and Ficus exasperata and three shrubs, that is, Thespesia populnea, Grewia carpinifolia and Griffornia simplicifolea, were evaluated by chemical, in sacco and in vitro methods. Introduced Gliricidia sepium leaves were included as control feed. Chemical analysis indicated that all samples were high in N (2.84%-4.08%) and low in neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (36.0%-60.6%). With the exception of S. mombin leaves, which had 10.5% total extractable phenolic and 8.6% extractable tannin content, all other tested feeds were low in extractable phenolics (0.56%-3.18%), extractable tannins (0.11%-2.52%) and condensed tannins (<1.21%). Dry matter (DM) and protein degradation after 48 h incubation in sacco ranged from 60.0%-87.5% and 73.1%-93.4%, respectively. B. nitida showed the lowest degradability values (45.7% and 52.5%, respectively). A similar trend was observed from the in vitro gas production data. Use of polyethylene glycol 4000 (phenolic binding agent) indicated that inhibitory effect of phenolics on rumen microbial fermentation was minimal. Data from this study have shown that such Ghanaian browse plants have potential to be used as feed supplements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.