NUTRIENT EVALUATION OF FOREST PLANT SEEDS FOR THEIR POTENTIAL APPLICATION AS ALTERNATIVE COST-BENEFIT FEEDS IN LIVESTOCK RATIONS | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Animal Production | ||||
| Article 1, Volume 60, Issue 1, February 2023, Page 1-6 PDF (370.95 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejap.2023.160371.1048 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Titus Ampitan ; Kehinde Adelakun 
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| Federal College of Wildlife Management, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, P.M.B. 268, New Bussa, Niger State, Nigeria | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study investigated the nutritional qualities of Leucaena leucocephala (Lead tree) and Enterolobium cyclocarpum (Elephant ear) seeds to serve as indexes of nutritional values for its potential use as an alternative cost-benefit feedstuff in livestock feeding. Ripe pods of both plants were collected and processed for analysis using standard analytical procedures. The results showed that the protein content of L. leucocephala seeds was 17.88% and lower than the 24.66% recorded for E. cyclocarpum. There are considerable levels of crude fat, crude fibre, ash, and nitrogen-free extract in both seeds. The seeds were found to have high levels of vitamin A, D, C, E and B complex. Vitamin A is the most abundant recorded in both samples with a concentration of 65.27±5.05 mg/100g in L. leucocephala and 58.76±2.10 mg/100g in E. cyclocarpum, while vitamin B is the least found in both seeds. The results further revealed that the presence of anti-nutritional factors, which include 4.26±1.23 µg/g and 3.27±0.23 µg/g of alkaloids and 3.50±0.72 µg/g and 2.80±0.73 µg/g of tannins for L. leucocephala and E cyclocarpum respectively. Saponin, phenolic compounds, phytate, oxalate, and glycosides were also present at considerable levels. The findings of this study support the potential use of L. leucocephala and E. cyclocarpum seeds as an alternative to conventional animal feed ingredients to reduce competition between humans and animals for conventional field crops. The anti-nutritional compounds found in the sample seeds required more studies to minimize or reduce it by treating with different processing methods, which include boiling, roasting, fermentation and soaking. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Forest seeds; cost-benefit; livestock; feed industry; nutrients | ||||
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