Comparative Study on Nutritive Value of Different Legumes Species (Leucaena leucocephala, Calopogononium muconoides and Stylosanthes guianensis)

Abstract

Legumes are the plant that contains high protein content that has been used as supplementary for animal feed and has a great potential to increase the productivity of livestock. However, no much study has been measured on the nutritive value of legume species. Thus, the aims of this study were to measure the nutritive content in the leaves of three different legume species (Leucaena leucocephala, Calopogonium mucunoides and Stylosanthes guianensis) and to compare the species that contain high of nutritive value. The samples were collected in Tembila area, Besut, Terengganu, then were brought to the Plant Physiology laboratory at UniSZA Kampus Besut for sample preparation. The samples were washed under tap water for 30 seconds to prevent nutrient leaching, then were dried and ground before analyzed by proximate analysis and mineral analysis using Induces Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) machine. The parameters that were measured by using the proximate analysis consist of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ash, ether extract (EE) and Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE). For mineral analysis, the samples were analyzed for Calcium (Ca), Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn). The results of this study showed that Leucaena leucocephala had significantly higher (p < 0.05) of CP and EE. While, Stylosanthes guianensis had significantly higher (p < 0.05) of the micro-elements which are Zn, Fe and Mn. Therefore, this study revealed that L. leucocephala contained the highest nutritive value of CP, EE and Calcium.