Seasonal alterations in anti-nutritional factors of common fodder trees of mid Himalayas

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the foliages of eight different fodder trees of mid Himalayan region round the year at different intervals to assess the seasonal variations in anti-nutritional factors and to find the best lopping time for these fodder trees. Albizia chinensis exhibited significantly higher (P<0.05) level of total phenols (13.9%) during the month of July while it was minimum (P<0.05) during November in Grewia oppsitifolia (3.1%). In Albizia chinensis foliage, simple phenols were significantly higher (P<0.05) during the month of July (4.7%), while Bambusa arundinacea (1.1%) exhibited significantly lower (P<0.05) simple phenol content during the month of September. Albizia chinensis foliage had significantly higher (P<0.05) level of net tannins during May (9.3%), whereas Grewia oppsitifolia revealed significantly lower (P<0.05) net tannin content (1.4%) during the month of November. Grewia oppsitifolia foliage exhibited minimum condensed tannin (0.7%) during November, whereas higher level of condensed tannins was observed during July in Albizia chinensis (4.4%). The hydrolyzed tannins were higher (P<0.05) during September (5.1%) in Albizia chinensis foliage, while least content (0.7%) was recorded during November in Grewia oppsitifolia. It was observed that the level of different anti-nutrients decreases in advancing months of the year. The study revealed that Grewia oppsitifolia and Bauhinia variegata are important fodder trees of the region with low levels of anti-nutrients for long spell of the year and could constitute as supplementary fodder resource for mitigating the forage scarcity for the livestock during lean seasons of the year.