EFFECTS OF LOCATION ON FIBRE FRACTIONS AND AMINO ACIDS PROFILE OF TWO TROPICAL FORAGE LEGUMES IN UMUDIKE, RAINFOREST ZONE, NIGERIA

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate effect of location on fibre fractions and amino acids profile of two tropical legumes in Umudike, rainforest zone, Nigeria. The experiment comprises two factors namely; 4 locations and 2 leguminous species forming 4 x 2 factorial arrangement laid out in Completely randomized design (CRD) having 8 treatments, replicated three times. The locations are: Location 1- NDDC site, Location 2- Rubber plantation site, Location 3-Fish farm site, Location 4- Sambisa site and the legumes are Centrosema pubescens and Calopogonium mucunoides. There were significant (P < 0.05) difference on the values of fibre fractions of two legumes. Acid detergent fibre (ADF) showed that legume 1 (Centrosema pubescens) recorded the higher value of 44.45 % than that of legume 2 (Calopogonium mucunoides) with a value of 43.45 %. Similarly, cellulose content revealed that legume 1 (Centrosema pubescens) recorded the higher value of 35.56 % than that of legume 2 (Calopogonium mucunoides) with a value of 34.54 %. In the case of essential amino acids profile, the observed mean values indicated that leucine (0.808 to 0.945), valine (0.662 to 0.742), phenylalanine (0.566 to 0.713) and iso-leucine (0.536 to 0.613) acids are the most abundant essential amino acids present in the legumes. Others are present in moderate amounts except tryptophane which limited. Legume 1 had higher fibre than legume 2 and Legume 2 appears to favor the amino acids profile than legume 1. Calopogonium mucunoides is therefore recommended for feeding of livestock during dry season for optimum animal performance.