Determination of Nutritive Value of Citrus Tree Leaves for Sheep Using In vitro Gas Production Technique

Ali Karabulut,Onder Canbolat,Adem Kamalak,Cagri O Ozkan

doi:10.5713/ajas.2007.529

Abstract

The nutritive values of leaves of Citrus grandis, Citrus aurantium, Citrus oranges, Citrus limon, and Citrus deliciosa were evaluated by chemical composition and in vitro gas production techniques. There were significant (p<0.001) differences among citrus species in terms of chemical composition. Crude protein (CP) contents ranged from 123.0 to 148.3 g/kg DM. Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) contents were varied with species in the range 219.4-355.4 and 215.0-278.8 g/kg DM respectively. Condensed tannin (CT) contents were ranged from 5.9 to 10.2 g/kg DM. The PEG addition significantly (p<0.001) increased the gas production and some estimated parameters of citrus tree leaves. However, species showed variable responses to polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment. There were also significant (p<0.001) differences among species in terms of gas production and estimated parameters. The OMD and ME contents of citrus leaves without PEG supplementation were ranged from 66.5 to 73.3% and 9.8 to 10.9 MJ/kg DM respectively. The improvement in gas production, organic matter digestibility (OMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) with PEG emphasized the negative effect of tannins on digestibility. The increase (%) in the estimated OMD and ME contents ranged from 5.5 to 9.8% and 5.7 to 10.2% respectively. All citrus tree leaves studied in this experiment have potential nutritive values indicated by high crude protein content, OMD, ME and low fiber values.

Highlights

Shrub and tree leaves are an important component of diets for ruminant animals in the most part of animal (Holechek, 1984; Papachristou and Nastis, 1996) and play an important role in the nutrition of grazing animals in areas where few or no alternatives are available (Meuret et al, 1990)
The aim of this study was to screen citrus tree leaves from five species grown in the southern Turkey to (1) quantify chemical compositions and level of condensed tannin contents of citrus leaves, (2) assess the effect of tannin activity on feed digestibility and nutrient availability
Leave samples Leaves from Citrus grandis, Citrus aurantium, Citrus oranges, Citrus limon and Citrus deliciosa from the annual pruning were used

Summary

Introduction

Shrub and tree leaves are an important component of diets for ruminant animals in the most part of animal (Holechek, 1984; Papachristou and Nastis, 1996) and play an important role in the nutrition of grazing animals in areas where few or no alternatives are available (Meuret et al, 1990). The annual pruning of citrus trees produce considerable amount of stem and leaves exact quantities are very difficult to estimate. These cheap wastes obtained after pruning were used as alternative ingredients in ruminant diets with some success in some farms (Hernandez et al, 1998).

Objectives

Methods

Results