Livestock Research for Rural Development 20 (supplement) 2008 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD News

Citation of this paper

Effects of supplementation with rumen fermentable carbohydrate and sources of 'bypass' protein on feed intake, digestibility and N retention in growing goats fed a basal diet of foliage of Tithonia diversifolia

Khamparn Pathoummalangsy and T R Preston*

Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture
National
University of Laos, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR
khamparnp@yahoo.com.au
*UTA-TOSOLY, Socorro, Santander, Colombia

Abstract

Experiment 1. Four growing male goats fed ad-libitum Tithonia diversifolia hay were allocated in a 4*4 Latin square design to supplements of cassava chips (1% of BW), fresh mulberry leaves (1% of BW as DM), both cassava chips and mulberry leaves (0.5% BW of each on DM basis) or no supplement.

Supplementation did not affect the intake of the Tithonia hay thus total DM intake was higher on all the supplement treatments. Crude protein intake was highest for the treatment of mulberry leaves. N intake was lowest in the goats given Tithonia and Tithonia with cassava chips. Lowest N retention was on the Tithonia diet expressed as absolute amounts or as percentages of N intake or N digested. N intake on the diet with cassava chips was low, but the efficiency with which the N was retained was higher than on all the other diets. Live weight changes were in the same order as those for N retention with highest value on the diet with supplements of both cassava chips and mulberry leaves.

Experiment 2. Four growing male goats were assigned to a 2*2 factorial design in a 4*4 Latin square. The factors were: ad-libitum fresh tithonia foliage or tithonia hay; and supplementation with cassava root chips + mulberry leaves (1% BW of each on DM basis). Total DM intake for goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage was higher than when the Tithonia hay (plus jackfruit leaves) was fed. Supplementation with mulberry leaves and cassava chips increased DM intake compared with no supplement, reaching 46.5 g/kg live weight. Coefficients of apparent digestibility for DM, organic matter, crude protein and NDF were lowest when the Tithonia was fed as hay. Supplementation improved the coefficients on Tithonia hay but not on fresh Tithonia. Urine volume was much higher on fresh Tithonia than on sun-dried Tithonia. When the diets were supplemented the urine volume was decreased on the fresh Tithonia but not on the sun-dried Tithonia. N retention did not differ between fresh and sun-dried Tithonia but was increased when the Tithonia was supplemented with cassava chips and mulberry leaves.

Experiment 3. Four growing goats were assigned in a 4*4 Latin square to evaluate four sources of bypass protein (banana leaves, jackfruit leaves, erythrina leaves and mulberry leaves) at levels of 2% BW (DM basis) with a basal diet of ad libitum fresh Tithonia foliage. Urine volumes were highest on the banana and erythrina diets and reflected the rates of excretion of N in the urine. N retention was highest on the mulberry-supplemented diet which was not different from the diet with jackfruit. The lowest value was on the diet with banana leaves. N retention on the erythrina supplemented diet appeared to be only slightly less than on the diet with jackfruit. The weight gains broadly followed the values for N retention being much less on the Tithonia supplemented with banana leaves.

The findings of these three experiments support the hypothesis that, in goats fed tree foliages as the basal diet, digestibility indicates nutritive potential of the diet but actual performance is dependent on appropriate supplementation to increase the amino acids absorbed by the animal.

Keywords: Banana leaves, bypass protein, digestibility, dried cassava root, Erythrina, intake, Jackfruit, Mulberry, N retention, Tithonia diversifolia


Introduction

Nowadays, many new kinds of foliages, shrubs, and tree fodders have been researched and introduced to farmers by scientists. Wild sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) is one of the new foliages, which in Laos is considered to be a valuable green manure. In Western Kenya, it is renowned as a component of agro-forestry systems as it is rich in N, P and K which are essential for soil fertility. Biomass from Tithonia has proven to be valuable in improving soil fertility for crop production in areas constrained by soil N, P and K deficiencies (Lijzenga 1998). It has been reported that addition of foliage of Tithonia diversifolia to the cropping area leads to double the yield of the crops and that it is more effective than urea when applied at the same N rate (Jama et al 2000; Sanchez 2001).

In this study we are concerned with the potential use of the Tithonia as forage for live stock. There were now several researches relevant to its use for livestock production. Mahecha and Rosales (2005) reported that the crude protein content in the foliage of Tithonia was 24.2% in DM basis and that about 40% of the protein was soluble. The percentage (in DM) of NDF was 35.3% and ADF 30.4%. The rumen degradable protein (in sacco) was very high (about 90% in 48h) (Rosales 1996, cited by Mahecha and Rosales 2005). Recently, Wambui et al (2006) reported that the daily weight gain of goats fed urea-treated maize stover as basal diet and supplemented with Tithonia foliage was about 82.6g/day and it was greater than when Caliandra and Sesbania foliages were used. . The low content of tannins reported for Tithonia foliage (Wambui et al 2006) supports the idea that the protein may well be highly soluble with poor "bypass" characteristics (Preston and Leng 1987). The fact that loss of nitrogen in the urine was higher for Tithonia than for Calliandra or Sesbania in the study of Wambui et al (2006) supports this suggestion that rumen ammonia levels are high on Tithonia, resulting in high excretory levels of urea in the urine. Similar high urine losses of nitrogen were reported for water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) fed at 40% (Pathoummalangsy and Preston 2006) or as the sole diet of goats (Buntha and Ty 2006). Water spinach is similar to Tithonia in having high protein content and high digestibility but low tannin content.

Based on the above observations it is hypothesized that the limiting factors to efficient utilization of Tithonia as the sole diet of goats is the high solubility of the protein resulting in high rumen ammonia levels, which have to be excreted via the urine. The final result is that the supply of metabolic protein to the animal is reduced. The two ways to improve goat performance on Tithonia foliage as the main feed would thus appear to be: to feed easily fermentable carbohydrate to utilize the high ammonia levels or to supplement with foliages with known rumen bypass characteristics.

Sources of readily fermentable carbohydrate

Cassava chips are reported to be excellent sources of rumen fermentable carbohydrate as they are rich (70-80%) in rapidly fermentable starch (Kearl 1982; Sommart et al 2000; Vearasilp and Mikled 2001; Gomez and Valdivieso 1983).). Chanjula et al (2003) found that cassava chips were better than cassava root waste, sweet potato roots, maize corn meal and rice bran, as a means to optimize use of NPN for rumen microbial protein synthesis. Sathapanasiri et al (1990) observed that starch of cassava is highly degraded in the rumen (94%) and completely digested in the whole tract. A similar result has been reported by Sommart et al (1991).

Foliages with bypass protein characteristics

Mulberry leaves are traditionally used as food for silkworms in sericulture (Subbarayappa and Bongale 1997). Mulberry leaves are very rich in protein and minerals and low in fiber (Fotadar and Dandin 1997). Jegou et al (1994) reported DM intakes in lactating goats of 4.18 percent of live weight and that digestible DM was from 78.4 to 80.8 percent. Growth rates in goats were improved when the basal grass diet was replaced with ensiled mulberry leaves with highest N retention when the ensiled mulberry leaves were the sole content of the diet (Nguyen Xuan Ba et al 2005). Vu Chi Cuong et al (2005) reported that fresh mulberry leaves could replace cottonseed meal in the diets of growing cattle with no reduction in live weight gain. The protein in cottonseed meal is known to be one of the best sources of bypass protein for ruminants (Promkot and Wanapat 2003; Zhang et al 1994) thus it is reasonable to conclude that mulberry leaves are also rich in bypass protein.

Mineral content is high in mulberry foliage and no anti-nutritional factors or toxic compounds have been identified (Makkar et al 1989; Makkar and Becker 1998, Singh et al 2002). Additionally, the mulberry samples analysed by the UFAG Laboratories in Switzerland, from the high zone of Cartago in the Central Plateau of Costa Rica, gave on a DM basis, 22 percent of crude protein (CP) 19 percent of crude fibre (CF), 2.3 percent of ether extract, 50 percent of by-pass protein and an estimated 1.48 Mcal/kg of net energy for lactation (cited by Boschini 2002)

Foliage from the Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) has been recommended as a basal diet for lactating goats and growing kids, especially during the dry winter season when grasses are in short supply (Duyen et al 1996). Moreover, Phengvilaysouk and Kaensombath (2006) reported that the retention of N in goats only on Jackfruit foliage was 2.8 g/day which is equal to about 18 g/day of protein which, assuming the body contains 20% protein, would be reflected in a rate of live weight gain of the order of 100 g/day.

Camero and Franco (2001) presented that feeding leguminous fodder that is high in protein can improve rumen fermentation parameters leading to increased digestibility and intake of low quality fibrous feeds, and hence improved animal production. Erythrina variagata is a leguminous tree that is more palatable than Gliricida sepium and supported higher milk yields in goats due mainly due to differences in intake (Camero and Franco 2001). Supplementing foliage of Erythrina poeppigiana to goats fed King grass and banana fruit resulted in linear increases in milk production (Esnaola et al 1990). In an experiment with dairy cows, foliage of Erythrina poeppigiana supported better economical returns than use of soybean or fish meal as protein supplement (Pezo et al 1990).

In Laos, banana leaves are traditionally used as material for packaging human food. Duyen et al (1996) fed banana leaves as protein sources for lactating goats given a basal diet of rice straw and sugarcane tops and concluded that leaves from banana supported better milk production than the leaves of Trichanthera gigantea but were inferior to foliage from Jackfruit.

The hypothesis that was tested in this study was:

Three experiments were carried out using growing goats housed in metabolism cages so as to measure feed intake, apparent digestibility and N retention with different combinations of cassava root chips and tree foliages. In Experiment 1, the basal diet was sun-dried Tithonia foliage and the supplements were cassava root chips and mulberry leaves. In Experiment 2: a comparison was made of sun-dried Tithonia foliage and the fresh foliage with and without cassava chips plus mulberry leaves. In Experiment 3: the basal diet was fresh Tithonia foliage and four different sources of leaves (from banana, Erythrina variegata, mulberry and Jackfruit).
 

Materials and methods

Location and climate

The experiments were conducted at The Faculty of Agriculture farm, National University of Laos (Nabong campus), sited in Parksarp Mai Village and 32 km from the City centre, Xaythany District, Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. The environmental temperature during the experiments ranged from 18 to 32 degrees centigrade.

Experimental animals and housing

Four young goats about 5-7 months of age were purchased from local farmers for each of the experiments (different animals for each experiment). The animals were de-wormed with Ivomectin and vaccinated against Foot and mouth disease and Pasturellosis two weeks before the beginning of each experiment. They were housed and fed in individual metabolism cages built from wood and designed for collection of feed residues, faeces and urine separately. The floor area in each cage was 90*90 cm, and they were raised 85 cm from the floor.

Treatments and experimental design

Experiment 1. The treatments consisted of sun-dried Tithonia foliage, which was fed as basal diet (offered at 120% of recorded intake). The treatments arranged as a 4*4 Latin square were:

Experiment 2.The factors compared in a 2*2 factorial arrangement within a 4*4 Latin square were:

Processing of Tithonia foliage

Supplementation

Experiment 3.The basal diet was fresh Tithonia foliage supplemented with the following leaves each at 2% of BW (DM basis):

In each experiment there were 4 periods each of 12 days, the first 7 days for adaptation to the new feed and the last 5 days for data collection.

Feed and feeding
Experiment 1

Tithonia foliage was collected from waste land at the sides of the highway in Xiengkhouang province in the upland area of Laos. The foliage, which comprised stems (about 50 cm long) with attached leaves, was dried in the sun for 3 to 5 days. It was then packed into polypropylene bags and transported by bus to the Experimental farm in the University. Fresh cassava root was purchased from local farmers in Vientiane province. The roots were sliced by hand or machine and dried under sunlight for 4 to 5 days. Leaves of mulberry and jackfruit were collected daily from trees in the Crop Science department of NUOL.

Experiment 2

The Tithonia hay, cassava chip, mulberry and jackfruit leaves were obtained according to the same procedure used in Experiment 1. Fresh Tithonia foliage was from shrubs which had been established 3 months previously, in an area close to the Goat house, using as plant material stem cuttings brought from Xiengkhouang province.


Photo 1. Goat fed Tithonia foliage hay in the feed trough

Photo 2. Goat fed Tithonia foliage hay and supplemented with cassava root chips and mulberry

Photo 3. Goat fed fresh Tithonia foliage (hanging outside the pen) and supplemented with cassava root chips and mulberry

Experiment 3

Tithonia foliage was harvested from the re-growth of the plants established in Experiment 2. Leaves of mulberry, jackfruit and banana were collected from the Crop Science Department. The leaves of Erythrina were from trees growing in the experimental area.


Photo 4. Tithonia diversifolia was grown beside the goat house in the NOUL research farm

Photo 5. The goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage and supplemented with banana, mulberry, jackfruit or Erythrina leaves

In all treatments in all experiments the goats had free access to mineral blocks and clean water. The first feed at 7.00 am comprised the supplements and part of the basal diet. The remainder of the basal diet was offered in two feeds at 12.00 am and 4.00 pm. The Tithonia hay was fed loose in the feed trough (Experiments 1 and 2), In the case of the fresh Tithonia foliage (Experiments 2 and 3), this was hung in bunches suspended in the feed trough. Mulberry and Jackfruit were always given as leaves in the trough (all experiments) as was the banana in experiment 3.

Data collection

Live weight was recorded at the beginning of each 12 day period and at the end of the experiment. During the data collection period, samples of the Tithonia foliages offered and refused were separated into stem and leaves (containing attached petioles). Representative samples of each component were analysed daily for DM and the dried material retained until the end of each period when it was analysed for N, ash and NDF.

30 ml of 25% sulphuric acid was put into the urine collection container to maintain the pH below 4.0. Urine volume was measured daily. A representative sample of urine (10% of the total) was taken each day. At the end of the 5-day collection period, the urine samples were mixed and analysed for N.

Faeces were weighed and sampled twice a day in the morning (at 6:30) and late afternoon (16:30). The samples were combined for each animal and 10% of the total kept in the freezer at -18ºC for DM, N, NDF and ash determination at the end of the period.

Chemical analyses

Chemical analyses of diets and faeces were undertaken following the methods of AOAC (1990) for ash and N. The measurement of NDF followed the procedure of Goering and Van Soest (1970). The DM content was determined using the microwave method of Undersander et al (1993). Urine was analyzed for pH by a digital meter with glass electrode. The N content of urine was determined by the AOAC (1990) procedure.

Statistical analyses

The data were subjected to analyses of variance according to the general linear model of the Minitab software (Minitab release 13.31, 2000). When the "F" test was significant (P<0.05), the means were separated using the Turkey comparison option in the Minitab software. In Experiments 1 and 3, sources of variation were treatments, animals, periods and error. The model was as follows:

Yijk = µ + Ti + Pj + Ck + {varepsilon}ijk

Where:

Yijk = observation,

µ = population mean,

Ti = diet effect,

Pj = periods effect,

Ck = goat effect, and

{varepsilon}ijk = residual error.

For experiment 2, the 2 x 2 factorial analysis of variance was used. The sources of variation were: periods, animal, processing, supplements, interaction processing*supplements and error. The model was:

Y ijpsp*s = µ + Pi + Cj + Tpsp*s + {varepsilon}ijpsp*s

Where:

Yijkl = observation,

µ = population mean,

Pj = periods effect,

Cj = goat effect,

Tk = supplement effect,

Pl = processing effect,

Tk*Pl = interaction processing*supplements and

{varepsilon}ijkl = residual error.
 

Experiment 1

Results

Experimental feed characteristics

The proportion of leaf in the sun-dried Tithonia hay was 76.6%. The chemical composition of feeds is shown in Table 1.


Table 1.  The chemical composition of feeds (Experiment 1)

 

DM, g/kg

g/kg DM

CP (N*6.25)

OM

NDF

Tithonia leaves

836

201

875

356

Tithonia stems

795

87.5

854

418

Jackfruit leaves

365

121

887

301

Mulberry leaves

253

168

956

239

Cassava chips

850

16.3

842

149


Voluntary feed intake and digestibility

During the introduction of the goats to the experimental diets it was observed that they ate very little of the Tithonia hay. However, when some leaves of jackfruit were also offered the intake of the hay increased. It was therefore decided to include the Jackfruit leaves at the level of 0.5% of live weight (DM basis) in all the treatments.

Supplementation did not affect the intake of the Tithonia hay thus total DM intake was higher on all the supplement treatments (Table 2; Figure 1).


Table 2. The mean values intake and digestibility for goats fed Tithonia foliage hay (TH) and supplements
of dried cassava root (THC) or mulberry leaves (THM) or both (THCM) (Exp 1)

 

TH

THC

THM

THCM

SEM

Prob.

Intake (in fresh basis), g/day

 

 

 

 

Tithonia hay

305

307

344

356

18.8

0.227

Jackfruit leaves

171a

173a

167b

172a

1.07

0.038

Mulberry leaves

0

0

436

225

 

 

Dried cassava root

0

135

0

72.5

 

 

DM intake,  g/day

 

 

 

 

 

Tithonia hay

257

260

300

289

15.2

0.222

Jackfruit leaves

60.3

60.7

58.9

60.6

 

 

Mulberry leaves

0

0

106

54.7

 

 

Dried cassava root

0

115

0

61.6

 

 

Total

317 b

435a

454a

477a

18.1

0.003

Total crude protein, g/day

43.7b

46.6b

63.9a

61.4a

3.09

0.008

Crude protein, g/kg DM

140a

108b

142a

131a

1.97

0.001

DM intake/LW, g/kg

26.8b

36.8a

38.9a

40.1a

1.55

0.003

Apparent digestibility, g/kg

 

 

 

 

 

Dry matter

587b

658a

615b

626b

8.7

0.007

Crude protein

864a

818b

841ab

888a

10.3

0.014

Organic matter

600b

676a

629ab

642a

8.1

0.003

Neutral detergent fibre

637b

641b

771a

713ab

23.1

0.018

ab Means without letter in common in the same row differ at P<0.05




Figure 1. DM intake of goats fed Tithonia hay (and small amount of fresh jackfruit foliage) alone
or supplemented with dried cassava root, fresh mulberry leaves or both cassava root and mulberry


As expected, intakes of crude protein were higher for the diets containing mulberry leaves; however, expressed as concentration in diet DM, the values were lower for the diets with cassava chips. Apparent digestibility of DM tended to be increased on all the supplemented diets, while coefficients for crude protein tended to be higher for those diets with mulberry foliage which contained more protein (Figure 2).


Figure 2. Apparent digestibility in goats fed Tithonia hay (and small amount of fresh jackfruit foliage)
alone or supplemented with dried cassava root, fresh mulberry leaves or both cassava root and mulberry


Nitrogen balance

N intake was lowest in the goats given Tithonia and Tithonia with cassava chips (Table 3).


Table 3.  Nitrogen balance of goats fed Tithonia foliage hay (TH) and supplements of cassava root (C) or mulberry (M) or  both (CM)

 

TH

THC

THM

THCM

SEM

Prob.

Waste output, g/day

 

 

 

 

 

Faeces

128b

150ab

173a

178a

6.26

0.004

Urine

405b

461b

695a

542ab

31.6

0.003

Nitrogen  balance g/d

 

 

 

 

 

Intake

6.99c

7.46bc

10.2a

9.82ab

0.49

0.008

Excreted in faeces

0.89b

1.35ab

1.58a

1.09b

0.10

0.012

Excreted in urine

3.11a

1.49b

3.00a

2.95a

0.27

0.017

Retention

2.99b

4.62ab

5.64a

5.79a

0.42

0.021

N retained % N intake

42.6b

61.76a

54.83ab

54.13ab

3.37

0.032

N retained % N digested

49.3b

75.3a

64.9ab

64.4ab

4.28

0.028

ADG, g/d

27.5

36.3

45.0

85.0

13.3

0.083

abc Means without letter in common in the same row differ at P<0.05


Lowest N retention was on the Tithonia diet (TF) expressed as absolute amounts or as percentages of N intake or N digested (Figure 3). Although N intake on the diet with cassava chips was low, the efficiency with which the N was retained was higher than on all the other diets.


Figure 3.  N balance of goats fed Tithonia hay (and small amount of fresh jackfruit foliage)
 alone or supplemented with dried cassava root, fresh mulberry leaves or both cassava root and mulberry leaves


A 12 day period is very short for measuring reliable data on live weight change. However, the values recorded were in the same order as those for N retention with highest value on the diet with supplements of both cassava chips and mulberry leaves.

Discussion

The crude protein in the leaves of the dried Tithonia (20%) was similar to the value of 21% in DM reported by Mahecha and Rosales (2005) and the value of 22% recorded by Jama et al (2000) and Wambui et al (2006). In the case of mulberry the crude protein content was lower (14%) than the value (20 to 22% in DM) reported by Vu Chi Cuong et al (2005) and the value of 18% in DM observed by Nguyen Xuan Ba et al (2005).

Despite the high crude protein content and the relatively high apparent digestibility of DM and crude protein of the Tithonia foliage, the DM intake and N retention were low. Supplementation with cassava chips increased both intake and N retention, despite the fact that crude protein as percentage of DM was lower on this diet than on the Tithonia (TH) diet. The implications are that the effect of the cassava chips was to increase microbial protein production in the rumen through the availability of easily fermentable carbohydrate. Chanjula et al (2003) proposed that cassava chips facilitate the achievement of optimal utilization of energy and protein, especially NPN, for rumen microbial protein synthesis. Hoover and Stoke (1991) and Khampha and Wannapat (2006) also indicated that the high rate of digestion of carbohydrate in cassava chips was a major factor controlling the energy for growth of the rumen microbes.

The increase in voluntary intake and in N retention when the Tithonia hay was supplemented with mulberry leaves would appear to be a direct result of more protein becoming available at tissue level, presumably because part of the mulberry protein escaped the rumen fermentation and passed directly to the abomasum and intestine. Boschini (2002) on the basis of laboratory analysis claimed that 50% of the protein in mulberry leaves was by-pass protein. The fact that growth rates of cattle on a basal diet of molasses and rice straw were maintained at 550 g/day when mulberry leaves replaced whole cotton seeds (which are known sources of bypass protein) implies similar bypass properties in mulberry protein as in cotton seeds (Vu Chi Cuong et al 2005). Supporting evidence for the bypass protein characteristics of mulberry leaves are the reports of Oviedo (1995) (cited by Benavides et al 2000) that dairy heifers grazing star grass (Cynodon nlemfuencis) had the same growth rates when supplemented with concentrates or only mulberry leaves. Gonzalez et al (1996) (cited by Benavides et al (2000)) observed that young Romosinuano bulls in total confinement and fed a basal diet of elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) had growth rates of 40, 690, 940 and 950g/day when mulberry foliage intakes (as DM) were 0, 0.90, 1.71 and 2.11 percent of live weight.

Conclusions

Experiment 2

Results

Feed composition

The fresh leaves and stems of Tithonia had higher crude protein and lower NDF that the dried leaves and stems (Table 4). The leaves in both cases were richer in crude protein than the leaves of mulberry and jackfruit.


Table 4. The chemical composition of feeds

 

DM
g/kg as fed

g/kg DM

 

CP (N*6.25)

NDF

OM

Dried Tithonia leaves

826

209

359

889

Dried Tithonia stems

781

88

499

893

Fresh Tithonia leaves

187

227

333

866

Fresh Tithonia stem

160

111

444

827

Mulberry leaves

256

170

356

904

Jackfruit leaves

374

160

322

899

Dried cassava root

860

21.9

133

958

Intake, digestibility and N balance

Total DM intake in the goats fed fresh Tithonia was higher (P<0.02) than when the Tithonia hay (plus jackfruit leaves) was fed (Table 5). The DM intake of fresh Tithonia was 371 g/day compared with 300 g/day for the combined Tithonia hay and Jackfruit leaves.


Table 5.  Mean values (main effects) of feed intake by goats fed Tithonia diversifolia foliage in fresh and hay form
and supplemented with cassava chips (C) plus mulberry leaves (M)

 

Tithonia foliage

 

CM supplement

 

 

Fresh

Hay

Prob.

CM

No CM

Prob.

SEM

Intake in fresh basis, g/day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tithonia leaves

1,604

0

 

707

897

 

 

Tithonia stems

649

0

 

268

381

 

 

Tithonia hay leaves

0

150

 

62.5

87.8

 

 

Tithonia hay stems

0

69.6

 

32.7

36.9

 

 

Jackfruit leaves

0

312

 

156

156

 

 

Mulberry leaves

233

223

 

456

0

 

 

Cassava chip

61.9

62.4

 

124

0

 

 

Intake, g/day dry matter basis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tithonia

371

183

 

240

314

 

 

Jackfruit leaves

0

116

 

57.9

58.3

 

 

Mulberry leaves

59.8

57.0

 

117

0

 

 

Cassava chips

53.5

53.6

 

107

0

 

 

Total

484

410

0.02

522

372

0.001

16.7

Intake/LW, g/kg

42.9

36.4

0.07

46.5

32.9

0.004

2.10

 Supplementation with mulberry leaves and cassava chips (Table 6 and Figure 4) increased DM intake compared with no supplement, reaching 46.5 g/kg live weight, which is more than the maximum intake expected in young goats in the tropics (Devendra and McLeroy 1982; Steele 1996).


Table 6.  Mean values ‘interaction’ of feed intake by goats fed Tithonia diversifolia foliage in fresh
and hay form and supplemented with cassava chips (C) plus mulberry leaves (M)  (Exp 2)

Intake as DM,  g/day 

TH

TF

THCM

TFCM

SEM

Prob.

Tithonia

206bc

422a

260b

320ab

29.3

0.003

Jackfruit

117

0

116

0

 

 

Mulberry

0

0

114

120

 

 

Cassava

0

0

107

107

 

 

Total

323c

422b

497ab

547a

23.6

0.002

In/LW, g/kg

28.6b

37.1a

44.2a

48.8a

2.97

0.013

abc Means without letter in common in the same row differ at P<0.05




Figure 4.
  DM intake of goats fed Tithonia hay (with 1% of LW as jackfruit leaves) or fresh Tithonia foliage
alone or supplemented with cassava root chips plus mulberry leaves


There were significant interactions on apparent digestibility between effects of processing of the Tithonia foliage and supplementation with cassava root chips + mulberry leaves (Table 7). Coefficients of apparent digestibility for DM, organic matter, crude protein and NDF were lowest when the Tithonia was fed as hay (Figure 5). Supplementation improved the coefficients on Tithonia hay but not on fresh Tithonia (Figure 6).


Table 7.  Mean values  of apparent digestibility by goats fed Tithonia diversifolia foliage in fresh (TF) and hay
form (TH) and supplemented with cassava chips plus mulberry leaves (CM) or not supplemented (Experiment  2)

 Apparent digestibility, %

TH

TF

THCM

TFCM

Prob

SEM

DM

55.0b

82.7a

74.6a

84.3a

2.5

0.001

CP

64.1c

89.9a

74.7b

89.4a

2.0

0.001

OM

49.3b

82.9a

73.6a

85.1a

2.9

0.001



Figure 5. Apparent digestibility coefficients for goats fed Tithonia hay (plus 1% BW jackfruit leaves) or fresh Tithonia foliage alone

Figure 6. Apparent digestibility coefficients for goats fed Tithonia hay (plus 1% BW jackfruit leaves) or fresh Tithonia foliage alone and supplemented with cassava root chips plus mulberry (CM) or no supplement (NCM)


There were significant interactions on urine output, N excretion and N retention between effects of processing of the Tithonia foliage and supplementation with cassava root chips + mulberry leaves (Table 8). Urine volume was much higher on fresh Tithonia than on sun-dried Tithonia. When the diets were supplemented the urine volume was decreased on the fresh Tithonia but not on the sun-dried Tithonia.


Table 8.  Mean values  (main effects) of N balance in goats fed Tithonia diversifolia foliage in fresh and hay form and
supplemented with cassava chips (C) plus mulberry leaves (M)

 

Tithonia foliage

CM supplement

 

Fresh

Hay

Prob.

Yes

No

Prob.

SEM

Waste output, g/day

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faeces

78.5

136

0.002

106

108

0.922

7.95

Urine

961

387

0.003

650

698

0.696

81.6

Nitrogen balance, g/day

 

 

 

 

 

 

N intake

12.5

9.93

0.28

11.8

10.6

0.232

0.63

N in faeces

1.20

3.02

0.001

2.00

2.22

0.51

0.21

N in urine

7.14

3.30

0.001

4.81

5.63

0.218

0.42

N retained

4.14

3.61

0.454

4.98

2.77

0.016

0.47


Faecal N was lower and urine N was higher for diets with fresh Tithonia than for those with Tithonia hay, the differences being greater in the absence of supplementation (Figure 7). N retention did not differ between fresh and sun-dried Tithonia but tended (P=0.059) to be increased when the Tithonia was supplemented with cassava chips and mulberry (Figure 8). When the ANOVA analysis was done for main effects (Table 8) the effect of supplementation on N retention was significant (P=0.016). As was to be expected, changes in live weight (Figures 9 and 10) mirrored the changes in N retention.


Figure 7. Nitrogen balance of goats fed Tithonia in hay or fresh form

Figure 8. Nitrogen balance of goats fed Tithonia in hay and fresh form supplemented with cassava root plus mulberry (CM) or no supplement (NCM)



Figure 9. Live weight gain of the goats fed Tithonia in hay or fresh form

Figure 10. Live weight gain of goats fed Tithonia in hay and fresh form supplemented with cassava root chips plus mulberry (CM) or no supplement (NCM)

Discussion

The higher crude protein content in the fresh compared with sun-dried Tithonia foliage, and the lower values for apparent digestibility, were probably due to chemical changes resulting in losses of valuable nutrients during the drying process (McDonald et al; 2002). The higher intakes of Tithonia foliage fed fresh rather than as hay probably reflected in part the way these two feeds were offered (the hay was loose in the trough; fresh foliage was hung in bunches). It has been shown in several experiments that intakes and often digestibility are higher when tree foliages are hung as bunches rather than being offered only as leaves (Kouch et al 2003; Keopaseuht et al 2004; Van et al 2006; Phengvilaysouk and Kaensombath 2006).

The higher urine volume on fresh compared with sun-dried Tithonia appears to be related to the need to excrete a greater quantity of N on the fresh Tithonia as the N content of the urine was similar in both (about 0.8%).

The greater responses to supplementation on the fresh compared with the sun-dried Tithonia indicates that the fresh foliage has a high potential as ruminant feed (high crude protein content and high digestibility) but that the expression of the potential (in N retention and live weight gain) requires supplementation to improve rumen microbial growth (addition of cassava chips) and to increase the supply of bypass protein (mulberry leaves).

Conclusions

Experiment 3

Results

Feed composition

The chemical composition (Table 9) of the diet ingredients indicated that the CP content in fresh Tithonia leaf was the highest but lower than in Experiment 2 with similar high values in Erythrina leaves. The level of condensed tannins was highest in the banana and jackfruit leaves. The level in the Tithonia leaves (57.1 mg/kg DM) is much higher than was reported for Tithonia foliage (5.6 mg/kg DM) in Kenya (Wambui et al 2006).


Table 9.  The chemical composition of dietary components (Experiment 3)

 

DM, g/kg

g/kg DM

N*6.25

OM

NDF

Condensed tannin

Tithonia leaves

222

188

864

333

57.1

Tithonia stems

208

113

893

399

19.4

Jackfruit leaves

344

138

896

338

130

Banana leaves

180

140

906

638

133

Mulberry leaves

362

19

873

316

50.3

Erythrina leaves

285

194

881

336

45.8


Intake, digestibility and N balance

There were no differences in intake and apparent digestibility among the diets, except for crude protein apparent digestibility which was lowest for the jackfruit supplemented diet (Table 10).


Table 10.  Mean values for intake and apparent digestibility for goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage
(T) supplemented with leaves of banana (B), jackfruit (J), erythrina (E) and mulberry (M)

 

TB

TJ

TE

TM

SEM

Prob

Intake in fresh basis, g/d

Tithonia leaves

1,062

1,011

1,009

946

53.5

0.542

Tithonia stems

340

387

389

414

35.8

0.563

Jackfruit leaves

0

629

0

0

 

 

Banana leaves

1,105

0

0

0

 

 

Mulberry leaves

0

0

0

631

 

 

Erythrina leaves

0

0

764

0

 

 

DM intake, g/d

Tithonia

283

287

286

277

17.3

0.971

Jackfruit leaves

0

216

0

0

 

 

Banana leaves

203

0

0

0

 

 

Mulberry leaves

0

0

0

228

 

 

Erythrina leaves

0

0

218

0

 

 

Total

481

503

504

505

18.9

0.780

DM, g/kg BW

37.4

39.6

39.3

39.9

1.56

0.589

Apparent digestibility, %

DM

76.3

74.0

74.8

78.5

1.29

0.177

Crude protein

86.6ab

81.6b

88.6a

87.2ab

1.38

0.048

OM

76.9

75.8

76.5

80.0

1.21

0.176

NDF

76.8

68.3

75.6

70.4

3.03

0.242

abc means without letter in common are different at P<0.05


Urine volumes were highest on the banana and erythrina diets and reflected the rates of excretion of N in the urine which were also highest for these two diets (Table 11).


Table 11.  Mean values for N balance in goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage (T) supplemented with
leaves of banana (B), jackfruit (J), erythrina (E) and mulberry (M)

 

TB

TJ

TE

TM

SEM

Prob

Waste output

Faeces, g/d

103

126

126

104

6.75

0.083

Urine, ml

962a

688b

817a

507b

38.5

0.001

N balance

N intake

12.3

12.5

14.5

13.1

0.490

0.387

N  in faeces

1.41

1.99

1.56

1.34

0.14

0.072

N in urine

9.01a

6.23b

9.23a

6.02b

0.49

0.005

N retention

1.92b

4.31ac

3.71bc

5.69a

0.46

0.006

Live weight gain, g/day

21.0b

72.0a

80.0a

95.0a

10.5

0.011


Faecal N did not differ among the diets. N retention was highest on the mulberry-supplemented diet which was not different from the diet with jackfruit. The lowest value was on the diet with banana leaves. N retention on the erythrina-supplemented diet appeared to be only slightly less than on the diet with jackfruit (Figure 11). The weight gains broadly followed the values for N retention being much less on the Tithonia supplemented with banana leaves (Figure 12).


Figure 11. N balance of goats fed fresh Tithonia foliage supplemented with leaves of banana, jackfruit, erythrina or mulberry

Figure 12. Daily weight gain of goats fed Tithonia foliage supplemented with leaves of banana, jackfruit, erythrina or mulberry

Live weight change

There was a close relationship between N retention and live weight gain (Figure 13).


Figure 13.  The relationship between live weight gain and N retention of goats fed Tithonia foliage supplemented with leaves of banana, jackfruit, erythrina or mulberry

Discussion

It was observed that the goats consumed the jackfruit and mulberry leaves within 30 to 40 minutes. In contrast they took most of the day to eat the banana and erythrina leaves. These observations are different from those reported by Kongmanila et al (2007) when intakes, N retention and live weight gain were always better for erythrina than other foliages. The difference was that in the present study only the leaves of the erythrina were fed while Kongmanila et al (2007) hung the complete foliage (leaves attached to the stems) in the feed trough. It has been shown that for most foliages the intakes and digestibility are higher when the foliage is hung in the trough than when only the leaves are fed (Kouch et al 2003; Keopaseuht et al 2004; Van et al 2005; Phengvilaysouk and Kaensombath 2006).

The finding that N retention was highest with mulberry leaves as the supplement is in agreement with the results reported by Bakshi and Wadhwa (2006) where, in a comparison of a range of tree leaves as the sole diet, the highest N retention was observed with mulberry leaves.

The fact that there was a poor relationship between coefficients of apparent digestibility and the N retention (R2 = 0.25; P = 0.068) indicates that digestibility was not the constraint to goat performance on Tithonia foliage. This conclusion is similar to the one drawn in experiment 2 that: digestibility is indicative of the nutritive potential of the diet but that appropriate supplementation to improve protein flow to the intestine is the real determinant of performance. In experiment 3. apparent digestibility on the Tithonia foliage supplemented with banana leaves was high and similar to that on the other diets. However, N retention and live weight gain with the banana-supplemented diet were significantly lower than for the diets supplemented with jackfruit, erythrina and mulberry leaves. All of these latter foliages are considered to have protein in a form which allows it to bypass the rumen to the lower gut (Preston and Leng 1987).

The close relationship between the quantities of N retained and the observed changes in live weight (Figure 13) is an indication that the experimental procedures were an appropriate means of assessing the nutritive value of the experimental diets.

Conclusions


Acknowledgements

The senior author would like to express sincere thanks to the MEKARN Master Course project financed by Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), Department for Corporation SAREC. Besides, she expresses her gratitude to National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute and Faculty of Agriculture, National University of Laos particularly Department of Livestock and Fisheries for the facilities to carry out the experiment.


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