Effect of Tannins in Acacia nilotica, Albizia procera and Sesbania acculeata Foliage Determined In vitro, In sacco, and In vivo

Abstract

The nutritive value and the effect of tannins on the utilization of foliage from three commonly used legumes, Acacia nilotica, Albizia procera, and Sesbania acculeata, were determined. Three mature rumen-fistulated bullocks were used to study in sacco degradability and twelve adult sheep were randomly allocated on the basis of live weight to 4 groups of 3 in each to study the in vivo digestibility of the foliages. In all foliages, the contents of crude protein (17 to 24% of DM) were high. Fibre was especially high in Albizia (NDF 58.8% of DM vs. 21% in Sesbania and 15.4% in Acacia). Contents of both hydrolysable (4.4 to 0.05%) and condensed tannins (1.2 to 0.04%) varied from medium to low in the foliages. Acacia contained the highest level of total phenolics (20.1%), protein precipitable phenolics (13.2%) and had the highest capacity to precipitate protein (14.7%). Drying in shade reduced the tannin content in Acacia and Albizia by 48.6 and 69.3% respectively. The foliages ranked similarly for each of the different methods used to estimate tannin content and activity. Acacia and Sesbania foliage was highly degradable (85-87% potential degradability of DM in sacco), compared to Albizia (52%), indicating a minimal effect of tannins in Acacia and Sesbania. Yet, in vitro, the tannins in the Acacia inhibited microbial activity more than those in Albizia and Sesbania. Following the addition of polyethylene glycol to neutralise the tannins, gas production and microbial growth increased by 59% and 0.09 mg RNA equiv./dg microbial yield respectively in the Acacia, compared to 16-17% and 0.06 mg RNA equiv./dg microbial yield in the other foliages. There was a trend for low in vivo apparent digestibility of N in the Acacia (43.2%) and Albizia (44.2%) compared to the Sesbania (54.5%) supplemented groups. This was likely to be due to presence of tannins. Consistent with this was the low N retention (0.22 and 0.19 g N/g NI) in sheep supplemented with Acacia and Albizia compared to that for the Sesbania (0.32). Similarly, a trend for poor microbial N yield was observed in sheep fed these foliages. Across the foliages tested, an increase in tannin content was associated with a reduction in ruminal fermentation, N digestibility and N retention. For overall nutritive value, Sesbania proved to be the superior forage of the three tested.

Nutritive evaluation of foliage from fodder trees and shrubs characteristic of Algerian arid and semi-arid areas

“…Our high levels of CT in Acacia leaves are in agreement with values reported by other authors (Abdulrazak et al, 2000;Dube et al, 2001;Rubanza et al, 2005). Moreover, the tannin of Acacia has a high protein binding capacity (Alam et al, 2007). The gas production technique coupled with the addition of PEG to neutralize tannins is considered an effective tool for determining tannin biological activity (Ammar et al, 2004).…”

“…The CP content of the browse species studied herein was always higher than the minimum level of 7-8% DM required for optimum rumen function and feed intake in ruminant livestock (Van Soest, 1994). Given the high CP content of the Acacia foliage, this fodder resource can be considered a suitable supplement for poor quality (low N content) natural pastures and crop residues such as straw and stover (Osuji and Odenyo, 1997;Osuga et al, 2007), even though tannins can considerably reduce the extent of protein degradation in the rumen (Makkar, 2003;Alam et al, 2007). The low-to moderate fibre content of Acacia foliage would also benefit voluntary intake and digestibility of poor quality roughage (Osuji and Odenyo, 1997).…”

Comparative study on the biomass yield, chemical composition and in-sacco dry matter degradability of different cultivars of triticale fodder

“…Potential degradability observed in different cultivars of triticale ranged from 74.0 to 84.8%, probably due to the contents of different proportion of digestible fiber particles which led to difference in degradation and subsequently potential degradation in the rumen. However, potential degradability of DM found in the experiment is similar to the reports of Alam et al (2007) for Acacia and Sesbania. From the values obtained for easily soluble fraction, extend of degradation and potential degradation of triticale fodder it is apparent that the fodder may contain high soluble, digestible fractions and potential digestible ruminants and feeding to ruminant.…”

“…In the prevailing cropping systems, supply of adequate feed is far less than their requirements for various productive purposes. Therefore, cultivation of high yielding fodders on short rotation in between the crops or along with the cash crops having multipurpose uses may offer promising to the farmers to grow fodder crop for livestock (Alam et al 2007). Triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack), a cereal grain is the product of crosses between wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rye (Secale).…”

ESTUDIO FITOQUÍMICO CUALITATIVO PRELIMINAR Y CUANTIFICACIÓN DE FLAVONOIDES Y TANINOS DEL EXTRACTO ETANÓLICO DE HOJAS DE Desmodium vargasianum Schubert

“…La concentración de taninos es muy variable, dependiendo de la especie, tipo de tejido, cultivo, estado de desarrollo y condiciones ambientales. El contenido de taninos totales de especies forrajeras, principalmente de la familia Fabaceae, oscilan entre 1,57 a 9,16 g ATE/100 g de muestra seca 17,18 . El contenido de 2 a 5 % de taninos expresado como ácido tánico equivalente se consideran de moderada concentración, a partir de 6 % se considera de alta concentración, en Desmodium molliculum se halló 5,17 ± 0,10 g ATE/100 g de planta seca 19 .…”