Preliminary Studies on Spent Tea Leaf: In vitro Gas Production as Affected by Chemical Composition and Secondary Metabolites
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2006.497.500Keywords:
Digestibility, gas production, methanogenesis, secondary metabolite, spent tea leaf, tea leafAbstract
Nutrient composition and qualitative analysis of saponin, tannin and steroids were determined. In vitro gas production of the tea leaf (TL) and STL were carried out in 24 h incubation. Metabolizable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were also predicted. NaOH (10 M) was introduced into the inoculums after 24 h, from which methane (CH 4 ) production was measured. TL and STL had CP, CF, EE, ash and NDF 16.4 and 18.6%, 14 and 23%, 3.8 and 2.5%, 6.0 and 2.0%, 39.0 and 46.0% respectively. Qualitative evaluation of secondary metabolites showed the two stuffs contained condensed tannins and steroids. Saponin was found and enhanced methanogenesis in STL than TL. The cumulative gas produced at 24 h was 14 and 7 ml/200 mg DM for STL and TL respectively. The ME was similar but varied significantly (P < 0.05) in OMD, SCFA and CH 4 productions. The result showed that spent tea leaf had potential to be used as protein and energy supplements for ruminants in the tropics.
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