Nutritional and Anti-nutritional Properties of Mulberry Genotypes for Its Leaf Quality- Evaluation of Their Potential as an Animal Feed
Anusuya G *
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Menaka S
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Durgadevi R
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Bhuvaneshwari T
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Brindha Bharathi S. A
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Nandha Kumar R
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Moulidharshan R
Forest College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Mulberry (Morus spp.) is a wonder tree, for the main reason that it is a sole food plant for silkworm (Bombyx mori), resulting in high quality natural silk. Besides silk, the mulberry could very well be exploited in the field of value addition due to its high nutritive value. Mulberry leaves would be used as a great source for cattle feed due to its rich nutritional composition. Considering the above facts, investigations were carried out on twenty-one mulberry genetic resources obtained from the Central Sericultural Germplasm Resource Centre (CSGRC), Hosur towards the leaf quality characterization. The genetic resources viz., Morus cathayana, Thaibeelad, ACC.165, Kollegal, UP-8, Kalimpong, Anklow, Large black, Jalalgavah-3 and ME-065 exhibited higher values for mineral composition. All the genetic resources of mulberry were proved to have low anti-nutritional factors in leaves. The overall analysis indicated that among twenty-one mulberry genetic resources analyzed for its leaf quality, ten mulberry genotypes viz., Kollegal, Jalalgavah-3, Anklow, Large black, Morus cathayana, Thaibeelad, ACC.165, UP-8, Kalimpong and ME-065 were found to be used as an alternate feed in ruminant nutrition.
Keywords: Mulberry, genetic resources, feed quality, ruminant nutrition