Effects of Tephrosia candida DC Leaf and its Mixtures with Guinea Grass on in vitro Fermentation Changes as Feed for Ruminants in Nigeria

Abstract

Ruminants in the tropics are slow growing, arising from low quality feed. The use of indigenous legume trees and Guinea grass is a good strategy for an improved livestock performance. The nutrient composition and secondary metabolites of differently year of established Tephrosia candida leaf were determined. The mixtures of Tephrosia candida leaf and Guinea grass as treatments A (100% Tephrosia + 0% Guinea grass), B (75% Tephrosia + 25 Guinea grass), C (50% Tephrosia + 50% Guinea grass), D (25% Tephrosia + 75% Guinea grass) and E (0% Tephrosia + 100% Guinea grass) were incubated for in vitro gas production for 24 hours. The total gas (ml/200 mg DM) at post incubation was measured. Methane (mmol/200 mg DM) was evaluated by introducing 10 M NaOH into the content. Metabolizable energy (MJ/Kg DM) and organic matter digestibility (%) were calculated. Results showed that the crude protein (g/100 g DM) ranged between 19.33 and 23.18 while neutral detergent fibre (g/100 g DM) ranged from 25 – 32. The Tephrosia forages contained condensed tannin and steroids. The inclusion levels of the legume apparently increased the total gas production (range 1 – 6), metabolizable energy (range 2.99 – 4.75), organic matter digestibility (range 21.46 – 33.80) and methane (29.30 – 234). It is concluded that Tephrosia candida forage may be a good combination with Guinea grass for livestock production but may be higher than 50% inclusion in order to minimize energy loss through methane.