MINERAL CONSTITUENTS OF SOME BROWSE PLANTS USED IN RUMINANT FEEDING IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Thirty-six browse plants found in natural pastures and used in small ruminant feeding were collected during the dry season. Their leaves were assayed for their contents of macro- and micro-mineral elements. Mg, Ca, Na, and K contents were noticeably high with overall mean levels of 0.35, 0.44, 0.059, 0.05 and 1.61% respectively while those for Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu were respectively 79.28, 803.39, 588.64 and 13.08 ppm in the leaves. Most of the leaves had moderate Ca: P ratios though Terminalia catapa leaves had as high a ratio as 42 while the overall mean Ca/P was 4.49 ± 1.19- P., Cu and Zn were however low in some of the browse leaves.