Mimosine degradation in calves fed a sole diet ofLeucaena leucocephala in india

Abstract

Five Karan Swiss crossbred (Sahiwal x Brown Swiss) calves were abruptly switched over from a diet of concentrate and maize fodder to ad libitum air dried Leucaena leucocephala leaves plus twigs. After 17 days on the L. leucocephala diet, 3 of the calves were supplemented with copper sulphate (10 mg/kg DM L. leucocephala) for 12 days. Thereafter all the calves were taken off the L. leucocephala diet and returned to the pre-experimental concentrate and maize fodder diet. While on the L. leucocephala diet, the average DM intake/d of L. leucocephala declined to 497 g within 3 weeks and all calves lost weight. This weight loss was reversed in the 3 calves that received copper sulphate, and all calves gained weight when they resumed the concentrate and maize fodder diet. The toxic effects of L. leucocephala feeding for 24 days were characterised by poor growth, emaciation, alopecia, loss of hair from the tail switch, ear and eye lesions, ulceration of the mouth region, drooling viscid saliva and vomiting of thick green saliva in one of the calves. Mean levels of 3,4 dihydroxypyridone (DHP) (mg/100 ml) were 30.35 +/- 13.52 and 55.57 +/- 13.77 on days 2 and 4 respectively in rumen liquor and up to 136.01 +/- 80.18 in urine. The mean ratios of mimosine: DHP of 3.14, 0.12 and 0.04 in feed, faeces and urine respectively revealed extensive degradation of mimosine to DHP in the calves fed the L. leucocephala diet and it was concluded the calves were unable to tolerate a diet consisting solely of L. leucocephala.

Tropical legume supplementation influences microbial protein synthesis and rumen ecology

“…The toxic effect of dried Leucaena feeding ad libitum for 24 days with Karan Swiss crossbred calves was characterized by poor growth, emaciation, alopecia, loss of hair from the tail switch, ear and eye lesions, ulceration of the mouth region. Mean levels of 3,4 dihydroxypyridone (DHP) were 30.35 ± 13.52 mg/100 ml in rumen liquor (Ram et al., ). These symptoms are because of mimosine and 3‐hydroxy 4 (1H)‐pyridone (3,4‐DHP), its metabolite produced from mimosine in the rumen (Hegarty et al., ).…”

“…However, the limitation to effective utilization of fodder legumes as feed for ruminants is the high content of tannins and other anti-nutrients such as saponins, cyanogens, mimosine and coumarins which limit nutrient utilization (Makkar, 1993). Leucaena leucocephala is one of multipurpose leguminous tree species 30.35 AE 13.52 mg/100 ml in rumen liquor (Ram et al, 1994). These symptoms are because of mimosine and 3-hydroxy 4 (1H)-pyridone (3,4-DHP), its metabolite produced from mimosine in the rumen (Hegarty et al, 1976).…”

Leucaena toxicity: a new perspective on the most widely used forage tree legume

“…[β-[N-(3-hydroxy-4-oxopyridyl)]-α-aminopropionic acid] (Hegarty et al 1976) is acutely antimitotic, inhibiting the synthesis of DNA (Perry et al 2005;Pandey and Dwivedi 2007), particularly in rapidly dividing cells (Tsai and Ling 1971;Jones and Hegarty 1984), and can cause damage to internal organs (Prasad and Paliwal 1989). The symptoms ascribed to mimosine include alopecia (Hegarty et al 1964a;Ram et al 1994), oesophageal lesions (Jones et al 1978), foetal abortions (Holmes 1980), low bull fertility (Holmes 1981) and death (Jones et al 1978;Prasad and Paliwal 1989;Dalzell et al 2012). It should be noted that mimosine itself is not responsible for the symptoms of goiter (Hegarty et al 1979).…”

“…Up to 30% of the mimosine is converted to 3,4-DHP in the initial process of mastication (Ram et al 1994) within 1 hour of ingestion (Jones and Megarrity 1983). Although mimosine is readily degraded to 3,4-DHP, this does not result in detoxification.…”

“…Iodine is incorporated into salivary glands via a different method and inhibits the trapping step rather than the binding step, as in the thyroid (Koutras et al 1967;Harden et al 1968), leading to excessive salivation after prolonged exposure to leucaena (Jones et al 1976(Jones et al , 1978Holmes 1981;Megarrity and Jones 1983;Ram et al 1994).…”