Nutritional Evaluation of Some Leaves used as Top-feeds in North-Gujarat Region

The nutritive values of eleven tree leaves viz. Citrus limon, Ficus bengalensis, Ficus relegiosa, Ricinus communis, Ziziphus mauritiana, Azadirachta indica, Musa acuminatea, Acacia nilotica, Leucaena leucocephala, Prosopis julifora and Albizia samanm were evaluated by chemical analysis and in vitro gas production test. There were significant (P<0.05) differences among tree species in terms of chemical composition. Crude protein contents ranged from 7.98 to 19.96%. The ether extract content varied from 1.45 to 6.04% and crude fibre content from 13.77 to 26.86%. Neutral detergent fibre and acid detergent fibre contents were in the range of 27.78 to 51.84 and 21.79 to 33.70%, respectively. In vitro evaluation revealed lower methane production (mL/g OM) in Ficus bengalensis, Acacia nilotica, Albizia samanm, Ficus relegiosa and Azadirachta indica compared to the control at 10 and 20% inclusion level of selected leaves. The in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVMOD) ranged from 53.98 to 64.92 and 61.14 to 67.81%, respectively at 10 and 20% inclusion. The total volatile fatty acids (mM) ranged from 35.01 to 45.52 and 32.46 to 44.47 at 10 and 20% inclusion, respectively. Results revealed that most of tree leaves studied in this experiment have potential nutritive values indicated by high crude protein content, IVOMD and low fiber values.