Chemical composition and in sacco dry matter degradability of different morphological fractions of 10 enset (Ensete ventricosum) varieties

Enset (Ensete ventricosum), also known as ‘false banana’, is a perennial herbaceous monocarpic plant, which grows in the southern and south-western parts of Ethiopia for human consumption and animal feed. The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical composition and dry matter (DM) degradability of four fractions (leaf lamina, leaf midrib, pseudostem and corm) of 10 selected enset varieties (Addo, Astara, Birra, Chacho, Derassa Addo, Genticha, Gossalo, Gulumo, Kiticha and Midasho). Samples were taken from 5- to 6-year-old enset during the main rainy season. For degradability studies, three rumen fistulated male sheep were used. The dry matter content (g/kg) ranged from 106 to 172 for leaf lamina, from 42 to 100 for leaf midrib, from 55 to 146 for pseudostem and from 173 to 293 for corm. The overall DM was lowest in leaf midrib (62 g/kg DM) and highest in corm (227 g/kg DM). The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content (g/kg DM) varied from 659 to 753 in leaf lamina, from 585 to 694 in leaf midrib, from 551 to 825 in pseudostem and from 339 to 893 in corm. Acid detergent fiber (ADF) content (g/kg DM) varied from 313 to 387 in leaf lamina, from 377 to 491 in leaf midrib, from 75 to 249 in pseudostem and from 52 to 84 in corm. The crude protein (CP) content (g/kg DM) of the leaf lamina was lowest in Gulumo (164) and highest in Genticha (245). CP content in the leaf midrib varied from 39 to 60. In pseudostem, CP content ranged from 25 to 50. CP content in corm varied from 18 to 100. The metabolizable energy (ME) content was lowest in leaf lamina (5.4 MJ/kg DM) and highest in corm (13.1 MJ/kg DM). radability of the different fractions, at 96 h of incubation, differed in the following order: corm (0.942) > pseudostem (0.889) > leaf midrib (0.668) > leaf lamina (0.450). Washing loss ranged from 0.180 to 0.299 in leaf lamina, from 0.137 to 0.365 in leaf midrib, from 0.327 to 0.543 in pseudostem and from 0.464 to 0.645 in corm. Potential degradability (A + B) ranged from 0.423 to 0.797 in leaf lamina, from 0.602 to 0.817 in leaf midrib, from 0.796 to 0.988 in pseudostem and from 0.893 to 0.981 in corm. It is concluded that enset is a valuable dry-season feed, especially due to high CP contents of leaf lamina and high DM degradability of pseudostem and corm. The differences in chemical composition and degradability observed between fractions from different varieties of enset underline the importance of including feeding traits in future breeding programs for enset.