Effect of harvest timing and plant parts on the nutritional and chemical profile of five potential fodder plants found in eastern coast of United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Selecting highly nutritive fodder plants in arid regions can be a key to improving the livestock productivity. This work explores the variation in nutritive value of the leaves, stem, and shoots of five potential fodder plants of the Emirates of Fujairah, Erucaria hispanica, Haplophyllum tuberculatum, Convolvulus virgatus, Teucrium stocksianum, and Cleome Ibrachycarpa. influenced by two weather conditions, winter and spring. The plant samples underwent mineral composition, proximate, phytochemical, and heavy metals and two-way ANOVA. Weather data were accessed from National Center of Meteorology (NCM). Our findings reveal significant influences of collection time and species on nutritive content. Shoots collected in March exhibited higher ash (6.167%), crude protein (11.9%), crude fiber (14.89%), dry matter (45.86%), and total digestive nutrients (TDS) (48.35%), with lower tannin (5.11%) compared to January. Conversely, January-collected shoots had greater total sugar content (1.28 g/100 g). Plant organs played a crucial role, with leaves surpassing stems in Mg, P, Ca, K, Na, Mn, Zn, and Ni. Leaves also showed higher crude protein (23.33%), dry matter (92.26%), total ash (4.8%), and TDS (87.58%) compared to stems, while stems exhibited elevated crude fiber (17.45%) and tannin (4.53%). There is a need to assess the bioactive compounds found in these fodder species for the enhancement its effective use and maximize browsing of these species.