TY - JOUR AU - Campos, Cecilia C. Zapata- AU - García-Martínez, José E. AU - Chavira, Jaime Salinas AU - Valdés, Juan A. Ascacio AU - Morales, Miguel A. Medina AU - Mellado, Miguel PY - 2020/11/08 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Chemical composition and nutritional value of leaves and pods of Leucaena leucocephala, Prosopis laevigata and Acacia farnesiana in a xerophilous shrubland JF - Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture JA - Emir J Food Agric VL - 32 IS - 10 SE - Research Article DO - 10.9755/ejfa.2020.v32.i10.2148 UR - https://ejfa.me/index.php/journal/article/view/2148 SP - 723-730 AB - <p>The objective of this study was to determine the nutritional value of three leguminous trees heavily selected by goats in a xerophilous shrubland. Chemical composition and&nbsp;<em>in vitro</em>&nbsp;dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) of leaves and pods from&nbsp;leucaena (<em>Leucaena leucocephala</em>), mesquite (<em>Prosopis laevigata</em>), and huisache (<em>Acacia farnesiana</em>) is presented. Crude protein (CP) ranged from 17.3% for leaves of huisache to 21.9% for leucaena. The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content ranged from 39.0 to 40.3 with no difference among fodder threes. Across tree species, mean IVDMD was 61.6% for pods and 52.2% for leaves. IVDMD for leaves was highest (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.01) for leucaena (54.9%) and lowest for huisache (47.3%). Condensed tannins in an acetonic extract were highest for leaves of huisache (45.3 mg CE/g DM) and lowest for mesquite (25.9 mg CE/g DM). Pods and leaves of huisache presented the highest number of secondary metabolites, mainly related to hydroxybenzoic acid and flavonols; leucaena and mesquite presented mainly flavonols and anthocyanins. It was concluded that leaves and pods of leucaena, mesquite, and huisache constitute valuable forages for ruminant livestock due to their&nbsp;low fiber, high CP levels, moderate in vitro&nbsp;fermentation characteristics and high mineral content.</p> ER -