DIGESTIBILITY AND DIGESTIBLE ENERGY OF FIVE TROPICAL FORAGE TREE LEGUMES

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the digestibility coefficients and digestible energy of Arachis pintoi, Stylozanthes guianensis, Erythrina poeppigiana, Centrocema macrocarpum and Pueraria phaseoloides. The direct method was used, using the same forage as the only food. The experiment had two phases, one for adaptation and one of faeces collection, with duration of 15 and 5 days, respectively. We used 25 male guinea pigs in growth stage distributed in order to get 5 guinea pigs for each tropical legume evaluated. The digestibility coefficients of nutrients were numerically higher for Arachis pintoi (51,96, 56,80, 29,46 y 71,32 percent of the dry matter, crude protein, crude fiber and nitrogen free extract digestibility, respectively) than for all the other treatments, except for the ash. Likewise, digestible energy values (in dry basis) were greater for Arachis pintoi (2,20 kcal/g) than for all other forages.