In vivo and in situ digestibility of dry matter and crude protein of honeylocust pods (Gleditsia triacanthos l.)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the nutritional content, the rate of digestibility (in situ and in vivo) of nutrients contained in entire pods from four varieties of Gleditsia triacanthos L. Pods of each variety were hand harvested from natural vegetation around Montpellier, France. The in vivo and in sacco techniques were used to estimate degradability of dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) using a lot of castrated male Arles Merino sheep and rumen fistulated sheep. The mean daily ingestion value per animal varied between 57-80 g of the dry matter of pods I kg live weighf75; the digestibility values varied considerably between individuals (44.7-71.9% of the DM). More than 55% of the DM of the pods was digested after an incubation period of 8 h. The protein digestibility showed a rate of particle disappearance (kp=0.06) in rumen inferior to that obtained by the standard diet. The animals with a higher ingestion rate had a lesser digestion. The nitrogen digestibility rate (coefficient of digestive utilization = CDU) was superior for the fistulated animals (CDUN = 50-52%) compared to non-fistulated animals (CDUN=18-30%). The nutrient content and digestion parameters for varieties Milaud and Total were higher than Super-M and Voie- Ferr e-Marchandise varieties. © GSP, India.