Volume 46, Issue 1, October 2002, Pages 23–28
Abstract
Goats,
16 Anglo-Nubian×Local Fiji; 7–9 months of age; 9.45±0.09 kg, BW were
used to investigate the nutritive value and digestibility of Moringa oleifera–batiki grass (Ischaemum aristatum var. indicum) mixtures. Four treatments (diets) were compared: batiki grass alone (M0) was used as the control, and three levels of Moringa oleifera
leaves at 20% (M20), 50% (M50) and 80% (M80) of the total daily forage
allowance. The DMI of the goats on M0, M20, M50 and M80 diets were 50.6,
50.9, 51.0 and 46.8 g/(kg LW0.75), respectively. The DMI was significantly lower (P<0.05)
in the goats on M80 diets. The goats on M20 and M50 diets had higher
live-weight gains, and higher digestibility of DM, crude protein (CP),
neutral detergent fibre (NDF), OM and energy than the goats on M0 and
M80. It is concluded that Moringa oleifera at 20 and 50% levels
of total daily forage allowance could be used as a cheap protein
supplement in batiki grass based diets for goats.
Keywords
- Moringa oleifera;
- Batiki grass;
- Growing goats;
- DMI;
- Growth;
- Samoa
1. Introduction
Quantitative
information on performance of ruminant livestock on diets containing
leaves of forage from browse species origin is limited in the Pacific
Island Countries (PICs). Leaves of browse species are potential source
of nutrients that could be used to improve the production of ruminants
consuming tropical pastures of low nutritive value. The use of tree
leaves as fodder for ruminant livestock is becoming increasingly
important in many parts of the tropics (LeHouerou, 1980, Devendra, 1995 and Silanikove, 2000). Leaves from browse and fodder trees form major parts of livestock feed in tropical countries (Ash, 1990, Woods et al., 1994 and Mandal, 1997) and play an especially important role in improving dietary protein (Kaitho et al., 1998 and Yahaya et al., 2001). Tree leaves can be richer in crude protein (CP), minerals and digestible nutrients than grasses (Devendra, 1990 and Topps, 1992) and their use as a supplement can improve voluntary feed intake, digestibility and animal performance (Norton, 1994 and Aregheore and Yahaya, 2001).
Batiki grass (Ischaemum aristatum var. indicum)
is the most common propagated pasture grass species for livestock in
Samoa and other small island countries in the South Pacific region. It
can tolerate heavy grazing and poor management, but its competitive
nature limits its use in legume–grass mixtures ( Pottier, 1983).
The challenge in using pasture as a sole source of forage for animals
is to determine whether or not the pasture can supply adequate nutrients
for maintenance, growth and production.
Since batiki grass has low dry matter digestibility and intake (Aregheore, 2001),
supplementation with the leaves, shoots and twigs of browse plants can
help overcome its nutritional limitations especially in the dry season
period. A number of indigenous and introduced browse species abound in
the PICs. Fewer studies have been conducted on indigenous browse species
than introduced species such as Leucaena, Gliricidia, Calliandra and Sesbania ( Ash, 1990 and Aregheore and Manueli, 2000). Moringa oleifera called Vaivai in Fiji, Tamaligi in Samoa and Oloha-kerafo
in Malaitan language (the Solomon Islands) is one indigenous browse
species that has not been investigated as a supplementary feed in
ruminant diets.
Moringa oleifera Lam (synonym: Moringa pterygosperma,
Gaertner), is commonly referred to as ‘drumstick tree’ (describing the
shape of its pod) or ‘horseradish tree’ (describing the taste of the
roots). It is a member of the Moringaceae family that grows throughout
most of the tropics including northwest India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Afghanistan ( Makkar and Becker, 1996),
and in some PICs such as Western Samoa, Fiji and the Solomon Islands.
It is a multipurpose tree of economic importance because it has several
industrial and medicinal uses (Nautiyal and Venhatraman, 1987). Moringa oleifera is a small tree (7–12 m high) with thick grey bark, fragrant white flowers and long green pods (Makkar and Becker, 1997).
The fruits, seeds, leaves and flowers are eaten as nutritious
vegetables in some countries. The leaves are rich in carotene, iron and
ascorbic acid and the pods in free leucine ( Makkar and Becker, 1996 and Makkar and Becker, 1997).
Information on the feeding value of Moringa oleifera
in relation to animal production is scarce. At present, no data exists
on its nutritional value in vivo as a browse species in ruminant diets.
This study therefore aimed at investigating the nutritive value and
digestibility of Moringa oleifera–batiki grass (Ischaemum aristatum var. indicum) mixtures offered to the growing goats in the humid tropical environment of Samoa.
2. Materials and methods
The
experiment was conducted in the Goat Unit, School of Agriculture, The
University of the South Pacific, Alafua Campus, Apia, Samoa (latitude
∼13.50S, longitude ∼172.50W). The experiment was conducted between 4
November 2000 and 12 January 2001.
2.1. Animals, experimental procedure and design
Sixteen
growing crossbred goats (Anglo-Nubian×Local Fiji; 7–9 months of age;
9.45±0.09 kg BW) were used to measure voluntary feed intake, apparent
nutrient digestibility and to estimate live-weight changes. Prior to the
experiment the goats were drenched with an anthelminthic (Albendazole,
Smithkline Animal Health Products, Auckland, New Zealand). The pens were
also disinfected. The goats were weighed once a week.
Batiki
grass (after 8 weeks of re-growth) was harvested within the Alafua
campus. The grass was chopped with a bush knife into pieces (5–6 mm,
rough estimate). Moringa oleifera was harvested from mature
trees (flowering stage) in the morning for feeding in the afternoon with
some allowed wilting overnight for feeding the next morning. Due to the
height of the Moringa oleifera trees, the leaves were
harvested by climbing with the aid of a ladder. Stems were removed from
the forage to ensure that the fodder composition was uniform. The batiki
grass and Moringa oleifera leaves were thoroughly mixed in
each treatment and offered as a whole diet to the goats to prevent
selective eating. The levels of supplementation of batiki grass with Moringa oleifera leaves were calculated as a percentage of total ad libitum daily forage allowance. The dietary treatments were as follows:
- (1)
- 100% batiki grass (M0);
- (2)
- 80% batiki grass:20% Moringa oleifera (M20);
- (3)
- 50% batiki grass:50% Moringa oleifera (M50);
- (4)
- 20% batiki grass:80% Moringa oleifera (M80).
The
16 goats were divided on the basis of body weight into four groups with
four goats per diet (a completely randomized design experiment). Data
collection lasted for 70 experimental days. The goats were housed and
fed individually in pens with concrete floors, with wood shavings as
litter.
An adaptation period
of 7 days was allowed for the goats to get used to the experimental
diets. The diets were fed on an ad libitum basis (10–20% refusal) and
were offered four times daily to ensure constant availability. Batiki
grass and Moringa oleifera leaves were sampled once a week for
dry matter determination. Feeds offered and refused were recorded on a
daily basis to estimate voluntary dry matter intake (DMI). The live
weights recorded at the end of each week of the experiment were used to
calculate the amount of the mixtures to be offered during the subsequent
week.
All the goats were
allowed free access to mineral blocks and ample drinking water was
provided daily. The mineral/vitamin block contained common salt (NaCl)
40 g/kg, calcium 120 g, phosphorus 60 g/kg, magnesium 60 g/kg, copper
150 mg/kg, cobalt 1.5 mg/kg, iodine 7.5 mg/kg, manganese 600 mg/kg, iron
750 mg/kg, zinc 600 mg/kg, selenium 1.5 mg/kg; Vitamin A, 7 500 000 IU,
Vitamin D3 1 500 000 IU and Vitamin E 2500 mg/kg (Summit multi-mineral,
Aukland, New Zealand). At early morning feeding, refusals of previous
day’s feed were weighed and sampled. Cleaning of the pens and removal of
leftovers from the previous day were done daily before supplying the
day’s diet.
2.2. Digestibility study
At
the end of the growth trial, all the animals in each diet group were
used for metabolic studies for a 7-day collection and measurement
period. During the collection period, feed intakes and refusals were
collected daily and samples were processed for chemical analysis. The
total daily faecal output for each goat was weighed before a 25% sample
was removed for dry matter determination. The daily samples (faeces,
feeds and refusals) of each goat were milled (Christy and Norris mill;
Process Engineers, Chelmsford, UK) to pass through 1.7 mm sieve and
stored in air tight bottles until required for analysis.
2.3. Analytical methods
All
analyses were done in triplicate. Dry matter was determined by drying
at constant weight at 70 °C for 24 h in a forced-air oven, ash by
incineration at 600 °C for 3 h (AOAC, 1995), protein by the micro-Kjeldahl procedure (N×6.25) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) analysis was according to Goering and Van Soest (1970).
2.4. Statistical analysis
All
data on voluntary feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency, other
performance characteristics and apparent nutrient digestibility
coefficients were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) for
completely randomized designs using individual goat as a replicate (Steel and Torrie, 1980). Where significant differences were observed treatment means were compared with Duncan’s multiple range tests.
3. Results and discussion
The DM, CP, and energy contents of Moringa oleifera ( Table 1) were similar to those of Makkar and Becker (1996). The NDF of 18.2%, however, is lower than 21.9 and 28.8% NDF in the studies of Makkar and Becker (1996) and Gupta et al. (1989).
The variations observed in NDF contents may be due to age of tree,
climatic conditions or soil and edaphic factors. The DM, NDF, OM and
energy contents of batiki grass were similar to those of Kumar (2000) except for lower CP. The mixture of batiki–Moringa oleifera leaves diets had DM contents lower than that of batiki grass as a sole diet ( Table 1). The CP and energy contents increased with incremental levels of Moringa oleifera leaves, whereas those of NDF and OM decreased consistent with the estimation of Butterworth (1964).
- Table 1. Nutrient composition of Moringa oleifera leaves and batiki–Moringa oleifera leaves mixtures
Nutrients (%) Moringa oleifera Diets: batiki:Moringa oleifera ratios ±S.E.M.a 100:0 (M0) 80:20 (M20) 50:50 (M50) 20:80 (M80) Dry matter 46.1 49.9 47.7 47.1 46.9 1.2 Crude protein 19.3 8.3 c 10.5 bc 13.8 b 17.1 a 3.3 NDFb 18.2 40.2 a 35.8 b 29.0 c 22.6 d 6.7 Organic matter 88.5 92.4 92.0 90.5 89.3 1.2 Gross energy (MJ/kg) 17.8 15.9 16.3 16.9 17.4 0.6 - Means within each row with different letters (a–d) differ significantly (P<0.05).
-
- a
- S.E.M.: standard error of the mean.
- b
- NDF: neutral detergent fibre.
The DMI of the goats on M0, M20 and M50 were higher than that of the goats on M80 (Table 2).
The lower DMI of the goats on M80 diet was inconsistent with lower NDF
value which usually is associated with a shorter retention time and
higher intake (Silanikove et al., 1993). The lower intake was most likely related to the lower DM digestibility, which was reflected in lower nutritive value index (Table 3).
- Table 2. Performance characteristics of goats offered batiki–Moringa oleifera diets
Parameters Diets: batiki:Moringa oleifera leaves mixtures ±S.E.M.a 100:0 (M0) 80:20 (M20) 50:50 (M50) 20:80 (M80) Initial live weight (kg) 9.5 9.3 9.5 9.5 0.1 Body weight gain (kg) 3.9 6.0 5.5 4.0 0.9 Average daily live-weight gain (g/kg0.75 per day) 55 c 86 a 78 b 57 c 0.01 Dry matter intake (g/kg0.75 per day) 50.6 50.9 51.0 46.8 1.8 Daily protein (N × 6.25) intake (g/kg0.75 per day) 4.19 b 5.34 ab 7.04 a 8.02 a 1.5 Feed conversion efficiency (g feed/g gain) 6.8 4.6 5.2 6.3 0.9 - Means within each row with different letters (a–c) differ significantly (P<0.05).
-
- a
- S.E.M.: standard error of the mean.
- Table 3. Apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients of the growing goats
Nutrients Diets: batiki:Moringa oleifera leaves mixtures ±S.E.M.a 100:0 (M0) 80:20 (M20) 50:50 (M50) 20:80 (M80) Dry matter 54.8 b 58.3 a 56.5 ab 52.1 b 2.3 Crude protein 58.2 b 68.4 a 70.2 a 63.8 b 4.6 Neutral detergent fibre 52.3 c 64.4 a 58.0 b 50.3 c 5.5 Organic matter 56.2 b 68.2 a 64.3 ab 58.1 b 4.7 Energy 52.6 b 68.5 a 66.7 a 56.2 b 6.8 Digestible energy (MJ/kg DM) 9.36 10.89 10.61 9.49 0.7 Nutritive value index (kJ/kg0.75 per day)b 474 b 554 a 556 a 445 c 48.8 - Means within each row with different letters (a–c) differ significantly (P<0.05).
-
- a
- S.E.M.: standard error of the mean.
- b
- Nutritive value index: relative intake×percent energy digestibility (Crampton et al., 1960).
Makkar and Becker (1996) found 1.4% tannins and 3.4% total phenol and Gupta et al. (1989) found 2.7% total phenol. According to Makkar and Becker, 1996 and Makkar and Becker, 1997, these levels of tannins should not adversely affect animal performance.
The DMI and amount of digestible energy calculated in this study were (Table 3) consistent with reported values for growing goats (Ulyatt, 1973 and Sauvant et al., 1991). The CP intake on M0, M20, M50 and M80 diets was consistent with the NRC (1981) recommendation for growing goats (Table 1). Norton (1994)
recommended a diet with 8% CP for moderate live-weight gains in goats.
According to this criteria, the 8% CP in M0 was barely sufficient. The
digestible crude protein (DCP, g/kg0.75 per day) were 2.92 (M0), 3.51 (M20), 4.32 (M50) and 4.77 (M80) g/kg0.75 per day. The DCP intakes in this experiment are higher than maintenance requirements of 1.53–2.18 g DCP per day/LW0.75 for goats (Devendra and Burns, 1970).
Daily live-weight gain (LWG) ranged between 55 and 86 g/kg0.75 per day. The lowest daily LWG was recorded in the goats that received M0 diet (Table 2). Daily LWG of the goats in M20 and M50 diets were 86 and 78 g/kg0.75
per day, respectively. LWG of the goats offered the M80 diet was lower
than those of the goats on M20 and M50 diets, but similar to those on
M0. Feed conversion efficiency followed the pattern of daily live-weight
gain. The goats on M20 and M50 diets had similar apparent nutrient
digestibility coefficients (Table 3).
Also, the goats on M0 and M80 diets had similar digestibilities of DM,
CP, NDF, OM and energy. The DMD and CP of goats on M20 and M50 diets
were higher than those of the goats on M0 and M80 (Table 3) consistent with the work of Aganga and Monyatsiwa (1999). The apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients in all the diets were above 50% digestibility level (Table 3). It is concluded that Moringa oleifera
at 20 and 50% levels of total daily forage allowance could be used as a
cheap protein supplement in batiki grass based diets for goats.
Acknowledgements
EMA
is grateful to Mr. Salesa Leao Seiuli (part-time technician) and the
staff of the Fiji Agricultural Chemistry Laboratory, Nasouri, Fiji for
technical assistance and chemical analyses, respectively.
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