Abstract
The nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and in vivo metabolizable energy supply of Mucuna pruriens whole pods fed to growing Pelibuey lambs was investigated. Eight Pelibuey sheep housed in metabolic crates were fed increasing levels of Mucuna pruriens pods: 0 (control), 100 (Mucuna100), 200 (Mucuna200) and 300 (Mucuna300) g/kg dry matter. A quadratic (p<0.002) effect was observed for dry matter (DM), neutral detergent fibre (aNDF), nitrogen (N) and gross energy (GE) intakes with higher intakes in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Increasing M. pruriens in the diets had no effect (p>0.05) on DM and GE apparent digestibility (p<0.05). A linear reduction in N digestibility and N retention was observed with increasing mucuna pod level. This effect was accompanied by a quadratic effect (p<0.05) on fecal-N and N-balance which were higher in the Mucuna100 and Mucuna200 treatments. Urine-N excretion, GE retention and dietary estimated nutrient supply (metabolizable protein and metabolizable energy) were not affected (p>0.05). DM, N and GE apparent digestibility coefficient of M. pruriens whole pods obtained through multiple regression equations were 0.692, 0.457, 0.654 respectively. In vivo DE and ME content of mucuna whole pod were estimated in 11.0 and 9.7 MJ/kg DM. It was concluded that whole pods from M. pruriens did not affect nutrient utilization when included in an mixed diet up to 200 g/kg DM. This is the first in vivo estimation of mucuna whole pod ME value for ruminants.
Highlights
There is a renewed interest to evaluate feed potential of M. pruriens in ruminant animals (CastilloCaamal et al, 2003; Matenga et al, 2003; ChikagwaMalunga et al, 2009a, b, c, d; Loyra-Tzab et al, 2011, García-Galvan et al, 2012).Mucuna whole pods or beans alone could be used as supplement to ruminants fed poor quality roughage diets in many tropical countries
For the beans Burgos et al (2002) and Sandoval-Castro et al (2003) reported an metabolizable energy (ME) value for ruminants of 11.9 and 13.9 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) respectively and for husk 11.4 MJ/kg DM (Sandoval-Castro et al, 2003). These results suggest that M. pruriens could be employed as a source of nitrogen (N) and energy by the rumen microorganisms as there are no effects upon rumen microbial activity (Chikagwa-Malunga et al, 2009a)
gross energy (GE) was determined in an adiabatic calorimetric chamber (Parr, 1988)
Summary
Mucuna whole pods or beans alone could be used as supplement to ruminants fed poor quality roughage diets in many tropical countries. This option would be important during the dry season when there is a reduction in productive capacity of animals due to inadequate availability and low quality of pastures (Castillo-Caamal et al, 2003; Matenga et al, 2003). Degradability values from the husk are inferior, they are still higher than those of common grasses used for ruminant livestock in many tropical areas of Mexico (Ayala-Burgos et al, 2003; Sandoval Castro et al, 2003)
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