Chemical Composition of Gmelina (Gmelina arborea) Fruits and Leaves and Their Adoption as Livestock Feed Resources in Mubi Area

Gmelina arborea fruits and leaves have been neglected in the feeding of livestock in Mubi area of Adamawa State, Nigeria and this therefore necessitated the need to conduct studies on their chemical composition, level of awareness and adoption of their utilization as livestock feed. A laboratory analysis and field survey was conducted to evaluate the chemical properties of Gmelina arborea fruit and leaves,assess the level of awareness and adoption of the fruits and leaves as livestock feed resources in Mubi Area. The proximate composition, amino acid profile and levels of anti-nutritional factors of Gmelina arborea leaves and fruits were determined in triplicates using standard laboratory procedures. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from livestock farmers in Mubi area of Adamawa State. Eighty (80) livestock farmers irrespective of type of livestock kept were randomly selected and interviewed using structured questionnaires and the data collected were analysed and summarized in Tables using simple descriptive statistics (frequency distribution and percentages). The result of the laboratory analysis revealed that Gmelina arborea fruit and leaves have good nutritional value with protein content of 21.50% and 13.20%,respectively. However, the fruit and leaves were observed to contain some toxic components whose concentration in the fruit include tannins (3.20g/100g), oxalates (6.70 g/100g), flavonoids (5.30 g/100g), phytates (5.80 g/100g) and saponins (4.60 g/100 g),respectively while the leaves showed concentrations of 1.20, 1.80, 3.10, 0.85 and 0.72 g/100 g of tannins, oxalates, flavonoids, phytates and saponins, respectively. The outcome of the level of awareness and adoption of Gmelina fruits and leaves as livestock feed resources indicated that greater proportion (73.25 %) of the respondents interviewed are not aware while only few (15 %) of them are aware. Majority of the respondents (72.50 %) showed willingness to feed their animals with gmelina fruits and leaves, 13.75 % fruits only and 6.25% leaves only and 7.50 % showed no interest. It can be concluded that Gmelina fruits and leaves may have the potentials as livestock feed resources when they are properly processed before feeding to livestock. Therefore, more studies are required to determine the best processing method(s) that will detoxify the fruits and leaves. Furthermore, the fruit and leaves should be used in a feeding trials in Mubi area, with a view to evaluating their feeding values.