Estimation of proximate and chemical composition of locally available tropical tree leaves

Abstract

Present study was carried out to analyse the proximate and chemical composition of five tropical tree leaves which are locally available in and around Krishna District. The trees selected for analysis were Psidium guajava, Musa paradisiaca, Acacia nilotica,Moringa oleifera, Azadirachta indica. Among the analysed samples Moringa oleifera leaves have highest CP content (20.15%) where as Psidium guajava have lowest CP content (6.92%) on dry matter basis. Phenol, tannin and condensed tannin content of all the leaves were analysed in the present study. Phenol content was ranged from 6.93 to 17.51% in the estimated samples. Among all the tree leaves Psidium guajava leaves have highest condensed tannin (10.7%) content, while Musa paradisiaca has lowest condensed tannin (4.2%) content. From the study it was concluded that these tree leaves were not only rich in crude protein also have high concentrations of secondary metabolites (phenols, tannins, CT) which help in improvement of growth when they are included in the animal diet.