A STUDY OF KING GRASS (PENNISETUM-PURPUREUM SP) MUTANTS OBTAINED BY NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES AND CHEMICAL MUTAGENS .4. QUALITY INDICATORS

Some quality indicators of king grass (Pen-nisetum purpureum sp) mutan ts obtained from the application of nuclear techniques (CUBA MF 1000, 12, 18, 24, 30, 40 and 50) and chemical mutagens (CUBA MQ 1 and 2) wer e studied using a random block design with 4 replications. During the dry season the leaf protein content of the mutants with equal or lower to that of king grass, while CUBA MF 12 recorded the highest (P < 0.0 01) value the stems. In the rainy season only CUBA MQ 1 surpassed (P < 0.001) the control in the leaf and there were no differences in the s tem. Ash showed differences varying between 3.19 to 6.12 and between 9 .22 to 13.48% for stem and leaf, respectively. The fibre showed a simi lar performance with a range of values between 38.84 to 42.19 leaf, re spectively. In the dry season leaf digestibility of CUBA MF 12, 18, 24 and 40 was lower (P < 0.001) than the king grass, while this did not occur in the stems. In the rainy season leaf digestibility of CUBA MF 1000, 24, 30 and 40 was lower (P < 0.001 ) than the control and in the stem with the exception of CUBA MF 12, 30 and 40 which was superior ( P < 0.001). The best balance of the quality indicator was recorded in CUBA MF 1000, 24, CUBA MQ 1 and 2, although future studies are needed for learning the nutritional potential of these mutants.