Chemical composition and tannin content in leaves of Ficus spp. as top feed for ruminants from the Dang forest of South Gujarat Province, India

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to estimate proximate composition, fibre fraction and tannin content of leaves amongst 10 spp. of genus Ficus L. belonging to family Moraceae from the Dangs Forest in South Gujarat. Results revealed that all parameters varied significantly among different species leaves. Leaves of F. racemosa was observed with high ( p <0.05) dry matter (DM %) content while F. arnottiana leaves was high in organic matter (OM %) amongst. Per cent of crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) was significantly high in leaves of F. benjamina (11.64%) and F. virens (4.23%), respectively . The species F. asperrima , F. arnottiana , F. religiosa and F. benjamina were shown to be superior for the parameters like neutral detergent fibre (NDF %), acid detergent fibre (ADF %), acid detergent lignin (ADL %), and cell content. Tannin content was low in F. benghalensis and F. benjamina while highest in F. arnottiana followed by F. amplissima. Among different studied species F. benghalensis and F. benjamina found most suitable top feed for ruminant feeding.