MINERAL COMPOSITION AND ANTI-NUTRITIONAL FACTORS OF FIVE SELECTED FORAGES FED TO SMALL RUMINANTS

Résumé

The mineral composition and anti-nutritional factors of five selected plants Pentaclethra macrophylla, Sida acuta, Moringa oleifera, Morinda lucida and Ficus exasperata were evaluated. The resulting products were collected, fermented, sun-dried and kept in a polythene bag for further investigation. Flame photometer was used to determine Na, K, and Ca while Zn and Fe were assayed. Anti- nutritional factors (ANFs) including phytate, oxalate, saponin, alkaloid and tannin were also determined using qualitative analysis. The result of the mineral analysis indicates that Ficus exasperata had significantly (p< 0.05) highest values for K (1.29%). Moringa oleifera had significantly (p<0.05) least values for K (0.30%) and Zn (49.00 ppm). There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all the anti-nutritional factors analysed, with the highest saponin value (3.04%) observed in Sida acuta and the least value 2.63% in Ficus exasperata. Tannin values ranged between 0.47% and 3.61% in Ficus exasperata and Sida acuta respectively. The significantly (p<0.05) highest oxalate value (0.50%) was recorded in Morinda lucida while the least value (0.16%) was observed in Ficus exasperata. The results showed that the selected plants were of high nutritional quality due to the high mineral contents with moderate presence of anti-nutritional factors, and may therefore form good feed resources for ruminant animal production