Nutritive Value and Condensed Tannin Concentration of Some Tropical Legumes

2016

English

Ruminant livestock production in Ghana and other parts of the world relies heavily on forages. Forages play an important role in the diets of ruminants by providing protein, energy, minerals and vitamins. Forage legumes in general have higher protein, pectin, carotene and vitamin content than grasses but have lower levels of water soluble carbohydrate, cellulose and hemicellulose (Frame, 2005). They are able to improve soil health by fixing atmospheric nitrogen and reduce use of fertilizer. Some forage legumes contain condensed tannins (CT), which are high molecular weight phenolics and bind forage proteins as the plant is masticated by ruminants. The CT protect the plant protein from microbial digestion in the rumen without significantly decreasing intestinal digestion or amino acid absorption (Wang et al. 2007). CT may also reduce the amount of methane (CH4) produced in cattle consuming forage-based diets, a factor that could improve energetic efficiency in cattle and reduce their contribution to greenhouse gases. The objective of this study was to determine the nutritive values and CT concentrations of some tropical forage legumes.

Sottie, E.; Marfo-Ahenkora, E.; Domozoro, C.; Wallace, P.; Iwaasa, A.