Year: 2022 | Month: June | Volume 12 | Issue 3
Chemical Composition, Phenolic Fractions, Protein Fractions and In Vitro True Dry Matter Digestibility of Fodder Top Foliages of District Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir
Imran Ahmad Ganai
R.K. Sharma
A.K. Pathak
Nazam Khan
Ankur Rastogi
DOI:10.30954/2277-940X.03.2022.15
Abstract:
Top foliages are a source of digestible energy, rumen degraded and undegraded protein, vitamins, and minerals in small ruminants’ diets. However, the presence of phenolics and their interaction with protein degradability affects their utilization in the ration. Small ruminant production is a critical component of the agro-ecological scenario in hilly regions of Jammu and Kashmir. In these areas, top foliages are the primary feed resource for sheep and goats. In the present report, we scrutinized the ten commonly available top foliages of District Poonch of Jammu and Kashmir for nutrient composition, phenolic fractions and in vitro true dry matter digestibility to assess their utilizability as a feed resource. Crude protein content was found highest in Melia azedarach (21.20) and lowest in Acacia nilotica (10.20). The total phenolics content varied from 0.75 per cent in Grewia optiva to 7.32 per cent in Zizyphus jujuba. The protein fraction B3 (per cent of total nitrogen), which indicates bypass protein fraction, varied from 6.96 in Melia azedarach to 36.32 in Salix alba. The unavailable protein fraction C (per cent of total N) was maximum in Z. jujuba (42.73) and minimum in M. azedarach (6.54). Based on these parameters, it is concluded that Celtis australis, Ficus palmata, Ficus religiosa, Grewia optiva, Melia azedarach, Morus alba and Zizyphus jujuba leaves of District Poonch have high nutritional potential.
Highlights
- Phenolic content and protein fractions of top foliages are key parameters that affect their utilization as a feed resource.
- Celtis australis, Ficus palmata, Ficus religiosa, Grewia optiva, Melia azedarach, Morus alba and Zizyphus jujuba leaves of District Poonch have high nutritional potential.
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