Author(s)

Hafiz Abdalla Mohamed Ali^1*, Abu Bakr Omer Ismail¹, Mohammed Fatur¹, Faisal Awad Ahmed², El Hadi Omer Ahmed³, Magda Elmahdi Elbushra Ahmed⁴

¹Deputy Dean, Graduate College, University of Bahri, Khartoum, Sudan.
²Ministry of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.
³Ministry of Science and Technology, Range and Animal Research Station, Khartoum, Sudan.
⁴Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Sinnar University, Sinnar, Sudan.

The nutritive value of rangelands in Southern Darfur, Sudan could be improved by introduction and multiplication of nutritious forbs with the objective of increasing livestock production in the area. The present study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value and palatability of eleven range forbs collected at flowering stage from Gahzal Gawazat, Southern Darfur, Sudan using chemical analysis. The crude protein (CP) ranged from 6.8% in Oxygonum atriplicifolium with lowest digestible crude protein (DCP) 2.8% to 16.4% in Zornia diphylla with highest DCP 11.73%. The highest and the lowest crude fiber (CF) values were obtained in Commelina spp (56.4%) and Sesamum alatum (25.9%), respectively. NDF and DMI values were maximum and minimum for Zornia diphylla (44.9 and 2.67%) and Alysicarpus glumaceus (35.3 and 3.4%), respectively. The total digestible nutrients (TDN) ranged from 57.1% in Blepharis linariifolia to 69.3% in Tribulus terrestris with highest digestible energy (DE) in later while the lowest DE was obtained in Commelina spp (2.4%). The calculated in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) was highest for the Canavalia ensiformis (50.27%) and lowest value (43.17%) for Commelina spp. Zornia diphylla, Tribulus terrestris and Sesamum alatum showed highest nutritive value, while Alysicarpus glumaceus, Oldenlandia senegalensis and Chrozophora brocchiana showed highest palatability. It is concluded that these rangeland forbs are palatable and their CP and energy contents are sufficient to support different classes of livestock in South Darfur, Sudan.

Forbs, Nutritive Value, Palatability, Relative Feed Value, Energy Value

Ali, H. , Ismail, A. , Fatur, M. , Ahmed, F. , Ahmed, E. and Ahmed, M. (2016) Nutritional Evaluation and Palatability of Major Range Forbs from South Darfur, Sudan. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 6, 42-48. doi: 10.4236/ojas.2016.61006.