Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar
Online published on 25 January, 2012.
Genetic variability in cowpea (Vigna sinensis), moth (Phaseolus aconitifolius) and guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) for different cell wall components and in vitro dry matter digestibility has been reported. In moth, not much variability was observed for these chracters, in spite of variation at morphological level. In guar and moth, NDF, lignin plus silica were negatively correlated with in vitro dry matter digestibility, whereas in case of cowpea ADF was correlated at 5 per cent level. It was found that by using sequential analysis in case of guar, the correlation values improved. This emphasises the need for use of sequential analysis in case of guar and other pectin rich legumes.
Guar, being high in dry matter yield, gave maximum total digestible nutrients in comparison to moth and cowpea. It is interesting to point out that in moth, dry matter digestibility percentage increased even with delayed harvesting.
It is also clear from our results that the Van Soest fractionation procedure of fiber offers more precise results than those based on crude fibre, but they are still inadequate for predictive purposes especially in tropical forages.
