Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Preliminary evaluation of potential fodder quality in a range of Leucaena species

  • Published:
Agroforestry Systems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Twenty-two taxa and five interspecific hybrids of Leucaena, grown together on a site in Houduras, were evaluated in terms of their potential value as tropical fodder crops. Content of crude protein, organic matter, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, total tannin and condensed tannin (proanthocyanidin), as well as in vitro digestibility, were estimated in dried leaf samples, and the accessions ranked according to each of these criteria. The relative palatability of thirteen of the taxa and two of the hybrids was also assessed in a 'cafeteria' trial using fresh leaf material fed to sheep over an 18 day period. Protein, digestibility and palatability estimates, together with previously published yield data, were used to construct three indices of fodder potential, to allow direct comparisons between taxa. The most promising taxa according to these criteria included L. shannonii subsp. shannonii, L. collinsii subsp. zacapana and L. multicapitula, all of which achieved higher scores than the much better-known L. leucocephala subsp. glabrata in the index derived from crude protein and digestibility. When yield and palatability were included in the indices, the very high palatability of L. leucocephala gave it the highest score overall. The most unpromising taxa included L. pulverulenta, L. trichandra, L. esculenta (subsp. esculenta and subsp. matudae), and L. greggii.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • AOAC (1990) Official Methods of Analysis of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists. Volume 1. 15th Edition. AOAC, Arlington, VA, USA, 1298 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin MT, Williams MJ, Hammond AC and Chambliss CG (1991) Cattle preference ratings for eight Leucaena species in Florida. Leucaena Research Reports 12: 109–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Barry TN and Manley TR (1986) Interrelationships between the concentrations of total condensed tannin, free condensed tannin and lignin in Lotus sp. and their possible consequences in ruminant nutrition. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 37: 248–254

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brewbaker JL (1975) ‘Hawaiian Giant’ koa haole. Hawaii Agriculture Experimental Station, Misc. Publication 125

  • Brewbaker JL (1980) What is ‘giant’ Leucaena? Leucaena Newsletter 1: 43–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewbaker JL (1983) Systematics, self-incompatibility, breeding systems, and genetic improvement of Leucaena species. In: Leucaena Research in the Asian-Pacific Region. Proceedings of a workshop, Singapore, November 1982, pp 17–22. IDRC, Ottawa, Canada, 192 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Colindres I, Allison G and Belaunde LE (1995) Estudio participativo: uso de especies forestales por los pobladores del bosque seco de la zona sur (Choluteca, Valle, El Paraíso) de Honduras. Unpublished report to ODA, 142 pp

  • Hagerman AE (1987) Radial diffusion method for determining tannin in plant extracts. Journal of Chemical Ecology 13(3): 437–449

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hagerman AE and Butler LG (1991) Tannins and lignins. In: Rosenthal GA and Berenbaum MR (eds) Herbivores: Their Interactions with Secondary Plant Metabolites. 2nd edition. Volume 1: The Chemical Participants, pp 355–383. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris SA, Hughes CE, Abbott RJ and Ingram R (1994) Genetic variation in Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae). Silvae Genetica 43: 159–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Hellin JJ and Hughes CE (1993) Leucaena salvadorensis: conservation and utilisation in Central America. Serie Miscelánea de CONSEFORH No. 39–21/93. CONSEFORH, Siguatepeque, Honduras, 41 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes CE (1991) Two new subspecies of Leucaena (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae) from Guatemala. Kew Bulletin 46(3): 547–557

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes CE (1996) Systematics of Leucaena Benth. Unpublished D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford

  • Hughes CE (1998) The genus Leucaena: a genetic resources handbook. Tropical Forestry Paper 37. Oxford Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, 274 pp

  • Hughes CE and Harris SA (1995) Systematics of Leucaena: recent findings and implications for breeding and conservation. In: Shelton HM, Piggin CM and Brewbaker JL (eds) Leucaena — Opportunities and Limitations. Proceedings of a workshop, Bogor, Indonesia, January 1994, pp 54–65. ACIAR Proceedings 57, ACIAR, Canberra, 241 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutton EM and Beattie WM (1976) Field characteristics in three boxed lines of the legume Leucaena leucocephala. Tropical Grasslands 10: 187–194

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson F, Barry TN, Lascano C and Palmer B (1996) The extractable and bound condensed tannin content of leaves from tropical tree, shrub and forage legumes. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 71: 103–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jones RJ and Bray RA (1983) Agronomic research in the development of Leucaena as a pasture legume in Australia. In: Leucaena Research in the Asian-Pacific Region. Proceedings of a workshop, Singapore, November 1982, pp 41–48. IDRC, Ottawa, Canada, 192 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar R and Singh M (1984) Tannins: their adverse role in ruminant nutrition. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 32: 447–453

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McDougall E I (1948) Studies on ruminant saliva. I. The composition and output of sheep's saliva. The Biochemical Journal 43: 99–109

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller-Harvey I (1989) Identification and importance of polyphenolic compounds in crop residues. In: Chesson A and Ørskov ER (eds) Physico-chemical Characterisation of Plant Residues for Industrial and Feed Use. Elsevier Applied Science, London and New York

    Google Scholar 

  • National Academy of Sciences (1977) Leucaena. Promising forage and tree crop for the tropics. National Academy of Sciences, Washington DC, 115 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton BW, Lowry B and McSweeney C (1995) The nutritive value of Leucaena species. In: Shelton HM, Piggin CM and Brewbaker JL (eds) Leucaena — Opportunities and Limitations. Proceedings of a workshop, Bogor, Indonesia, January 1994, pp 103–111. ACIAR Proceedings 57, ACIAR, Canberra, 241 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Porter LJ, Hrstich LN and Chan BG (1986) The conversion of procyanidins and prodelphinidins to cyanidin and delphinidin. Phytochemistry 25(1): 223–230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shelton HM and Brewbaker JL (1994) Leucaena leucocephala — the most widely used forage tree legume. In: Gutteridge RC and Shelton HM (eds) Forage Tree Legumes in Tropical Agriculture, pp 15–29. CABI, Wallingford, 389 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Shelton HM, Piggin CM and Brewbaker JL (1995) Leucaena — opportunities and limitations. Proceedings of a workshop, Bogor, Indonesia, January 1994. ACIAR Proceedings 57, ACIAR, Canberra, 241 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart JL, Dunsdon AJ, Hellin JJ and Hughes CE (1992) Wood biomass estimation of Central American dry zone species. Tropical Forestry Paper 26. Oxford Forestry Institute, University of Oxford, 83 pp

  • Stewart JL, Dunsdon AJ and Hughes CE (1991) Early results from a Leucaena species/provenance trial in Honduras. Leucaena Research Reports 12: 101–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilley JMA and Terry RA (1963) A two stage technique for in vitro digestion of forage crops. Journal of the British Grasslands Society 18: 104–111

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Soest PJ, Robertson JB and Lewis BA (1991) Methods for dietary fiber, neutral detergent fiber, and nonstarch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. Journal of Dairy Science 74: 3583–3597

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Waghorn GC, Jones WT, Shelton ID and McNabb WC (1990) Condensed tannins and the nutritive value of herbage. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association 51: 171–176

    Google Scholar 

  • Wheeler RA, Norton BW and Shelton HM (1995) Condensed tannins in Leucaena species and their implications for nutritive value. In: Shelton HM, Piggin CM and Brewbaker JL (eds) Leucaena — Opportunities and Limitations. Proceedings of a workshop, Bogor, Indonesia, January 1994, pp 112–118. ACIAR Proceedings 57, ACIAR, Canberra, 241 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford Forestry Institute, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK

    J. L. Stewart & A. J. Dunsdon

Authors
  1. J. L. Stewart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. J. Dunsdon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stewart, J.L., Dunsdon, A.J. Preliminary evaluation of potential fodder quality in a range of Leucaena species. Agroforestry Systems 40, 177–198 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006028931809

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006028931809

Search

Navigation