Microbial isolation and digestion of some non-leguminous browse plants in semi-arid environment of North-East Nigeria

Abstract

Non-leguminous browse plants such as Ziziphus spina-christi (T1), Ziziphus mauritiana (T2), Azadirachtaindica (T3), Moringa oleifera (T4), Ficus polita (T5) and Annona senegalensis (T6) can produce high yield biomass. Z. spina-christi, Z. Mauritiana and M.oleifara contain high CP content and as such can be used to improve the performance of ruminants in the dry season during feed scarcity. The bacteria isolated from the rumen liquor of the feed samples were Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Corynebacterium species, Micrococcus species and Escherichia coli, while the isolated fungi include Aspergillus niger and Rhizophus species. Microbial analysis during their degradation in the rumen shows that B. subtilis and S. faecalis were found to be present as major bacterial species during their digestion. At the end of 48 hours period of incubation, the degradability rate of all the browse plants was more than 60%- T2 (67.60%), T1(66.10%), T4 (65.95%), T6 (65.50%) and T5 (63.55%). Their high CP content makes them good choices as feed ingredients and can be used for supplementation in ruminant feeding to improve feed quality of livestock feed production in Borno State, Nigeria. Their availability all year round, high protein level and high degradation characteristic can support and meet the nutrient requirements of ruminants during the dry season.