Nutritional status of some top foliages of Doda district

Ten top foliages viz Aesculus indica (Bankhour), Berberis lycium (Kimal), Callacanthis burotoni (Chapoo), Celtis australis(Khirk), Ficus foveolata (Figwasp), Indigofera pulchella (Kathu), Melia azedarach (Drenk), Morus alba (Toot), Pyrus pashia (Kainth) and Robinia pseudoacacia (Kikar) collected from Doda district of J&K State were analyzed for proximate and fibre constituents, nitrogen solubility, fibre bound nitrogen, nitrogen fractions and in-vitro true dry matter digestibility (IVTDMD). There was variation in chemical constituents. The crude protein (CP) content was maximum (25.95%) in M. azedarach and minimum in A. indica (10.73%), whereas, the ether extract (EE) content was highest in M. alba (6.57%) and lowest in I. pulchella (1.10%). The NDF content was highest in I. pulchella (70.24%) and lowest in M. alba (49.79%), while ADF content was maximum in P. pashia (56.71%) and minimum in M. alba (33.83%). The nitrogen solubility in borate phosphate buffer (pH 8.1) ranged from 34.35% in P. pashia to 94.70% in R. pseudoacacia. It appears that nitrogen from A. indica, B. lycium, C. australis and R. pseudoacacia would be degraded quickly in the rumen because of their high N solubility. The IVTDMD ranged from 29.50% in B. lycium to 79.97% in M. azedarach. The criteria of selection of quality attribute were based on the chemical constituents, protein fractions and IVTDMD. C. australis, F. foveolata, M. azedarach, M. alba and P. pashia seem to have good nutritional potential for ruminants. However, feeding trials in animals need to be conducted with these feedstuffs to give specific recommendations.