Determination of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb., leaves collected from different agro climatic zones of Tamilnadu as fodder with reference to amino acid composition

Abstract

: Ailanthus excelsa Roxb., commonly known as tree of heaven, is a large deciduous tree native to India. Leaves are rated as highly palatable and protein rich nutritious fodder for sheep and goats and are said to augment milk production. Though it is rich in protein, some of the cattle may not prefer to feed on its leaves due to unpleasant odour. Therefore, we aimed to develop a value added product as protein supplement to animal feed using the leaves of A. excelsa. It is pertinent to analyse the amino acid variation to ascertain the protein rich nutritious fodder value of A. excelsa as an indicator. Thirty potential source of A. excelsa were screened for amino acid composition using chromatographic analysis. HPLC analysis of 30 potential sources of Ailanthus excelsa showed variation in amino acids and protein. Essential amino acids were found in 24 sources, nonessential amino acids in 28 sources and both in 22 sources. Among the essential amino acids reported in A.excelsa, threonine was found in 19 sources, followed by methionine in 6 sources, histidine in 7, phenylalanine in 6 and lysine, triptophan and leucine in only one source respectively. Among the nonessential amino acids proline, serine and glutamic acids were present in 19 sources each, aspartic acid 17 sources, cysteine HCl in 18 sources, norleucine in 9 and glycine in 3 sources respectively. The protein in leaves of A. excelsa collected during summer season was ranged from 0.55 mg/g to 3.45 mg/g with an average of 1.48mg/g and 0.4 mg/g to 3.9 mg/g with an average of 1.69 mg/g in winter season. Therefore it is found from the present study that among the thirty sources of A. excelsa leaves collected, twenty four were found to have essential amino acids with high total protein content and hence considered as highly protein rich nutritious fodder for cattle.