Selmi et al., 2010. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 22 (6)
Composition chimique et digestibilité in vitro des feuilles d'Hedysarum coronarium L, Medicago truncatula L, Pisum sativum L et Vicia sativa L.
The chemical composition and fermentation parameters namely total gas production, volatile fatty acids (VFA), metabolizable energy (ME) and digestibility of organic matter (OMd) and in vitro digestibility with the pepsin- cellulase method (OM dcell) of leaves of Hedysarium coronarium L., Medicago trancatula L., Pisum sativum L. and Vicia sativa L. were evaluated. Leaves of Hedysarium coronarium L. had the highest OM content (p< 0.05) among all leguminous plants while the rest of these plants had comparable contents in OM. Furthermore, the crude protein percentage differed (p < 0.05) among leaves of all plants. While the leaves of Vicia sativa had the highest CP content (28.05 ± 0.4 % DM), the leaves of Hedysarum coronarium included the lowest content (19.8 ± % DM). On the other hand, there were no significant differences with respect to crude fibre among leaves of different species. Total gas produced after a 24h incubation period was the highest (p < 0.05) for the Hedysarium coronarium L leaves (55 ± 0.01 ml) compared to that produced by leaves of other species (from 42.3 ml for Medicago trancatula L to 45.7 ml for Vicia sativa leaves). Means of VFA, ME and OMd differed among leaves of the studied species. The leaves of Medicago trancatula L. had the lowest values (0.95 mmole/syringe, 2234 Kcal/ kg DM and 75.3% for VFA, ME and OMd, respectively). The digestibility by OM dcell was the highest for the Vicia sativa L. leaves (69.7 ± 2.9%) and the lowest (65.8 ± 0.66) for the Hedysarium coronarium L. leaves.