Combretum denhardtiorum Engl. & Diels, Combretum leuconili Schweinf., Combretum ovale G.Don, Combretum stefaninianum Pamp., Commiphora holstii Engl. - non Combretum holstii Engl., Poivrea aculeata (Vent.) DC., Poivrea hartmanniana Schweinf. - non Combretum hartmannianum Schweinf., Poivrea ovalis (G.Don) Walp. (USDA, 2009)
Combretum aculeatum Vent. is a small tree or shrub up to 4 m high. It has elliptic alternate and more or less pubescent leaves (Orwa et al., 2009). It is a notable browse tree in several African countries.
Combretum aculeatum is native to Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Sudan, Guinea, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia and Uganda. It grows in dry savannah on sandy or loamy soils.
This tree is highly sought after by animals, which consume the leaves, flowers and young shoots. It is one of the most valued fodders by cattle, goats, sheep and camels in eastern Kenya (Anttila et al., 1993). The browse provided is very rich in protein. The trees withstand repeated browsing (Toutain, 1980). Annual forage production ranges from 150 to 600 kg DM/ha with an average of 45-60 kg protein/ha (Le Houérou, 1980).
It is reported to be more digestible than Leucaena leucocephala for goats and sheeps, and it is recommended to supplement chopped sorghum with dried leaves of this shrub (Bosma et al., 1995). A diet with 30% dried leaves of Combretum aculeatum was as digestible as one supplemented with agro-industrial by-products and allowed the absorption of more OM, especially by goats (Bosma et al., 1997). In Niger, Oudah rams fed on poor quality forage who could browse Combretum aculeatum foliage during 60 or 120 minutes a day had higher overall DM intake. However, the digestibility of red bush willow was lower than that of control and the animals allowed to browse Combretum aculeatum had decreased herbage intake, live weight gain than animals fed on controls or browsing Ziziphus mauritiana. These results could be explained by the high level and the nature of tannins contained in Combretum aculeatum foliage (Sangaré et al., 2003).
Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used
Main analysis | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
Dry matter | % as fed | 47.8 | 28.5 | 60.7 | 4 | ||
Crude protein | % DM | 13.4 | 4.4 | 7.4 | 29.8 | 47 | |
Crude fibre | % DM | 24.4 | 5.8 | 16.8 | 36.2 | 26 | |
Neutral detergent fibre | % DM | 40.4 | 8.3 | 26.3 | 66.3 | 31 | |
Acid detergent fibre | % DM | 31.6 | 7.7 | 19.4 | 51.1 | 31 | |
Lignin | % DM | 9.4 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 27.3 | 31 | |
Ether extract | % DM | 3.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 8.1 | 29 | |
Ash | % DM | 10.5 | 2.8 | 6.4 | 20.9 | 47 | |
Insoluble ash | % DM | 2.9 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 8.7 | 7 | |
Gross energy | MJ/kg DM | 18.1 | * | ||||
Minerals | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
Calcium | g/kg DM | 17.7 | 8.4 | 3.8 | 36 | 11 | |
Phosphorus | g/kg DM | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 4.9 | 12 | |
Potassium | g/kg DM | 14.4 | 5.9 | 5.3 | 23.4 | 9 | |
Sodium | g/kg DM | 0.21 | 0.04 | 0.34 | 4 | ||
Magnesium | g/kg DM | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 3.5 | 8 | |
Manganese | mg/kg DM | 89 | 64 | 117 | 3 | ||
Zinc | mg/kg DM | 49 | 31 | 75 | 3 | ||
Copper | mg/kg DM | 24 | 21 | 26 | 3 | ||
Iron | mg/kg DM | 376 | 1 | ||||
Secondary metabolites | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
Tanins, condensed (eq. catechin) | g/kg DM | 0.1 | 9.999999E-02 | 0.2 | 2 | ||
In vitro digestibility and solubility | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
In vitro DM digestibility (pepsin-cellulase) | % | 60 | 13 | 37 | 82 | 17 | |
In vitro OM digestibility (pepsin-cellulase) | % | 58 | 13 | 36 | 80 | 17 | |
Ruminants nutritive values | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
OM digestibility, ruminants | % | 66.5 | * | ||||
Energy digestibility, ruminants | % | 63.6 | * | ||||
DE ruminants | MJ/kg DM | 11.5 | * | ||||
ME ruminants | MJ/kg DM | 9.3 | * |
The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.
References
Calabro et al., 2007; CIRAD, 1991; Diagayété et al., 1986; Dougall et al., 1964; Doulkom, 2000; Sangaré et al., 2003
Last updated on 06/11/2019 15:42:25
Main analysis | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
Dry matter | % as fed | 94 | 1 | ||||
Crude protein | % DM | 17.1 | 1 | ||||
Crude fibre | % DM | 35.3 | 1 | ||||
Neutral detergent fibre | % DM | 55.3 | 1 | ||||
Acid detergent fibre | % DM | 43.6 | 1 | ||||
Lignin | % DM | 13.7 | 1 | ||||
Ether extract | % DM | 15.6 | 1 | ||||
Ash | % DM | 4.3 | 1 | ||||
Gross energy | MJ/kg DM | 22.4 | * | ||||
Secondary metabolites | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
Tanins, condensed (eq. catechin) | g/kg DM | 0 | 1 | ||||
In vitro digestibility and solubility | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
In vitro DM digestibility (pepsin-cellulase) | % | 49 | 1 | ||||
In vitro OM digestibility (pepsin-cellulase) | % | 47 | 1 | ||||
Ruminants nutritive values | Unit | Avg | SD | Min | Max | Nb | |
OM digestibility, ruminants | % | 48.3 | * | ||||
Energy digestibility, ruminants | % | 46.1 | * | ||||
DE ruminants | MJ/kg DM | 10.3 | * | ||||
ME ruminants | MJ/kg DM | 8.2 | * |
The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.
References
Last updated on 06/11/2019 15:57:06
Heuzé V., Tran G., 2019. Combretum (Combretum aculeatum). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/705 Last updated on November 6, 2019, 15:19