The nutritional value of Piliostigma thonninghii (Mutukutu, Monkey bread) pods as a feed supplement for communal cattle in Zimbabwe

Piliostigma thonninghii pod samples obtained from two different communal areas of Zimbabwe (Kadoma and Gutu) throughout the 1993 dry season revealed that once mature there was no marked decline in the quality of the pod over the dry season. Chemical analyses on the P. thonninghii pod meal (PTPM) showed that it contained 919 dry matter (DM) per kg, 78.4 crude protein (CP), 230 crude fibre (CF), 446 neutral detergent fibre (NDF), 32.3 ether extract (EE), 47.9 crude ash (all expressed in g/kg DM) and 21.4 MJ gross energy (GE)/kg DM. Hence PTPM was found to be low in nitrogen but high in NDF. The in vivo DM, CP and NDF degradability patterns of PTPM and crushed maize meal (CMM; 21.3 MJ GE/kg) were assessed in four Holstein–Friesian steers (450 ± 20 kg) using the nylon bag technique. The effective degradability (k = 0.05/h) for PTPM (33.4% DM, 29.8% CP and 18.9% NDF) were lower than those of CMM (46.1% DM, 40.8% CP and 27.7% NDF). PTPM had a much lower potential DM degradability than CMM, and will therefore, have lower nutritive value. However, PTPM could be a useful feed supplement to communal cattle grazing poor quality forage during the tropical dry season.