Nutritive value of pods of indigenous browsable tree species in a semiarid area of Zimbabwe

摘要

Livestock in smallholder farming systems of Zimbabwe are depended on indigenous browse tree pods as sources of nitrogen and energy during the dry season. The chemical composition and nutritive value of these pods is largely unknown. The aim of this experiment was to determine the chemical composition, content of antinutritive factors and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of pods of Dichrostachys cinerea, Acacia ingrescens, Acacia tortilis andBauhinia thonningii. The content of antinutritive factors was determined by assaying for proanthocyanidins using the acid butanol method and by the radial diffusion method.