PROMISING TROPICAL GRASSES AND LEGUMES AS FEED RESOURCES IN CENTRAL TANZANIA - II - IN-SACCO RUMEN DEGRADATION CHARACTERISTICS OF 4 GRASSESAND LEGUMES

The organic matter (OM) degradation in the rumen of leaves and stems f rom 4 promising grasses and 4 legumes, was studied using the in sacco technique. The data on OM degradability (g/100 g) was fitted to the ex ponential equation D = a + b(1 - e(-ct)). It was shown that in grasses and legumes, leaves had higher (P < 0.001) extent of OM degradation a t the 48-h incubation time than corresponding stems, while the degrada tion rates (c) for leaves and stems were about the same in grasses. Le gumes had higher degradation rates for leaves than for stems. The pote ntial OM degradability (a + b) of legume and grass species was also si gnificantly higher (P < 0.001) in leaves than in stems. It can be conc luded from the rumen degradation characteristics of the species that t hey have potential as nutritious feeds for ruminants in central Tanzan ia. The higher potential degradability of leaves than stems would impl y a greater potential in the nutritive value of the leaves. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science B.V.