Figueroa-Ortiz, Víctor J.

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    Características agronómicas y valor nutricional del gandul (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. cv. Kaki) cosechado a diferentes edades de cortes
    (2010) Figueroa-Ortiz, Víctor J.; Rodríguez-Carías, Abner A.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Valencia Chin, Elide; Randel Folling, Paul; Latorre, José R.; Department of Animal Science; Curbelo, Aury M.
    This study was divided into three parts; the first to evaluate the effects of five stages of plant maturity (60, 75, 90,120 and 180 d), on the agronomic characteristics, chemical composition and in vitro degradability (IVDMD) of pigeon pea (PP) (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. cv. Kaki) and its anatomical fractions, leaves (L) and stems (S). In the second part, the selective consumption, of this legume was studied; and in the third part, the effects of its inclusion in diets based of tropical grass hay for goats on voluntary intake and digestibility of DM, CP and NDF were determined. Plant height increased and L:S ratio decreased, as the plants grew. In the whole plant (WP) DM and NDF content increased by 13.95 and 20 percentage units, but CP content decreased by 4 units as plant maturity progressed from 60 to 120 d. At the five successive stages evaluated crude protein content in L exceeded (p<0.05) that of S while NDF content showed the opposite trend. The IVDMD values were 69.61% in WP, 73.85% in L and 50.35% in S. Whole plant IVDMD decreased (p<0.05) with advancing plant maturity from 71.16% at 60 d to 55.83% at 180 d. In the selective consumption trial, in which intake of fresh pigeon pea was compared with that of fresh native tropical grass (NTG) or NTG hay, a high selection of PP was observed in the first 10 minutes, but during the following 20 minutes this selection decreased. In the voluntary intake and digestibility trial that utilized 6 goats (26.4 Kg LW) to evaluate the inclusion of 25% of PP in a NTG based-diet, CP intake was markedly higher (p<0.05) with legume supplementation. Dietary inclusion of the legume also tended to improved the digestibility of DM and CP but not at the p<0.05 level of significance (56.72% vs. 51.44% and 58.68 vs. 51.17%), however it didn’t affect NDF digestibility. In summary, as the PP plant grew and increased in height, changes occurred in L:S proportions and chemical composition. The IVDMD results suggest that the interval from 75 to 120 d of growth is favorable for possible utilization of PP as fresh forage in diets for small ruminants. Supplementation with PP at the 25% level in the TGH-based diet increased DM and CP voluntary intake and digestibility above the basal levels.