Abstract:
Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam. moringaceae) is a highly valued plant that is mostly cultivated in the
tropics and subtropics. It is used for food, medication and industrial purposes. The objective of the study
was to assess the nutritional value of Moringa leaves and to determine the effect of supplementing
Moringa oleifera leaves (MOL) on growth performance, carcass and non-carcass characteristics of Black
bengal goats. The dried leaves had crude protein levels of 30.3%. Thedried leaves had the following
mineral contents: calcium (3.65%), phoshorus (0.3%), magnesium (0.5%), potassium (1.5%), sodium
(0.164%), sulphur (0.63%), zinc (13.03 mglkg), copper (8.25%), manganese (86.8 mglkg), iron (490
mglkg) and selenium (363 mg/kg). The fiber content was neutral detergent fibre (NDF) (11.4%), acid
detergent fibre (ADF) (8.49%), acid detergent lignin (ADL) (1.8%) and (acid detergent cellulose (ADC)
(4.01 %). The condensed tannins had a value of 3.2%, while total polyphenols were 2.02%. In the other
hand, a total of 36 castrated goats aged 8 months, with a mean initial weight of 7.63±O.8 kg, were
randomly divided into three diet groups with twelve goats in each. The duration of the trial was 90 days.
All goats received a basal diet of grass ad libitum and mixed basal diet (200 g/day each). The MOL
groups were fed additional lOOg (MOLl) and 200 g (MOLZ) of dried M. aleifera leaves, respectively.
The third group (Control) did not receive any additional ration. The attained average daily weight gain for
goats fed MOLl, MOL2 and Con were 103.3, 101.3 and 43.3 g, respectively (p<0.05). Higher (P<0.05)
feed intakes observed were in MOL2 (491.5 g) and MOLl (490.75 g) compared with Con (404.5 g). The
hot carcass weight was higher (p<0.05) for MOL2 (7.18 kg) and MOLl (7.14 kg) than for the Con group
(5.46 kg). The dressing percentage in MOL2 (50.8%) and MOLl (50.0%) were higher (P<0.05) than that
of the Con (44.9%). The growth performance and carcass characteristics of MOL2 and MOll goats were
not different. Moreover the experimental result reveal that MOL has a cholesterol lowering effect and no
lesion has been identified in the gastrointestinal mucosa of the parasitized animals fed on MOL mixed
diet. Feeding MOL improved the growth performance and carcass characteristics of goats in an almost
similar way, which indicates that M. oleifera could be used as a supplement or additives in goats.
