Nutritive Value of Several Tropical Legume Shrubs in Hainan Province of China

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the nutritive value of tropical legume shrub species Cratylia argentea, Leucaena leucocephala, Flemingia macrophylla, Cajanus cajan, Dendrolobium triangular, Cassia didymobotrya, Cassia bicapsularis and Acacia farnesiana in Hainan province, China based on their chemical compositions and in vitro Gas Production (GP). The Crude Protein (CP) contents of legume shrubs ranged from 13.43% (D. triangulare) to 18.44% (C. argentea). The Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) contents varied between 20.73% (S. didymobotrya) to 48.61% (D. triangulare) and 21.11% (S. didymobotrya) to 55.27% (D. triangulare), respectively. The Total Tannins (TT) ranged from 0.78% (C. argentea) to 2.67% (A. farnesiana). The Relative Feed Values (RFV) of tropical legume shrubs ranged from 85.9% (D. triangula) to 321% (C. didymobotrya). GP of tropical legume shrubs was determined 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96 h after incubation and their kinetics were described using the equation y = a+b(1 - exp-ct). The calculated in vitro Dry Matter Degradability (IVDMD), Organic Matter Digestibility (OMD) and Metabolizable Energy (ME) ranged from 36.91% (D. triangulare) to 79.30% C. bicapsularis), 40.70% (F. macrophylla) to 72.70% (C. bicapsularis), 5.41 MJ kg-1 (D. triangulare) to 11.26 MJ kg-1 (C. bicapsularis), respectively.