Nutritional status of top foliages in Kathua district

Nine top foliages viz Lavandule stoechas (Darin), Debregeasia hypoleuca (Sharu), Salix alba (Bedoh), Pyrus pashia (Kainth), Hypanthodium species (Figwasp), Morus alba (Toot), Rhus cotrius (Resh), Indigofera pulchella (Kathu) and Quercus incana (Banj) collected from Kathua district of J&K State were analyzed for proximate and fibre constituents, nitrogen solubility, fibre bound nitrogen and nitrogen fractions. There was variation in proximate and fibre composition. The crude protein (CP) content was highest (22.45%) in D. hypoleuca and lowest in Q. incana (12.47%). The ether extract (EE) content was highest in S. alba (6.29%) and lowest in I. pulchella (3.40%). The NDF content was highest in Q. incana (70.59%) and lowest in L. stoechas (37.46%), while ADF content was maximum in Q. incana (48.25%) and minimum in R. cotrius (20.40%). The Ca content varied from 2.03% in S. alba to 3.96% in D. hypoleuca, whereas, P content was below 0.5 per cent in all the samples. The ND1N (% of TN) was highest in S. alba (66.10%) and lowest in L. stoechas (16.25%) while the AD1N (% of TN) was maximum in S. alba (22.60%) and minimum in L. stoechas (3.76%). The N solubility in borate phosphate buffer ranged from 18.37 (D. hypoleuca) to 70.86% (R. cotrius). The criteria of selection of quality attribute were based on the chemical constituents and protein fractions. L. stoechas, D. hypoleuca, P. pashia, M. alba and I. pulchella seem to have good nutritional potential for ruminants.