Nutrient and Rumen Fermentation Studies of Indian Pasture Legumes for Sustainable Animal Feed Utilisation in Semiarid Areas.

This study evaluated 5 annual and 11 perennial Indian pasture legumes species for their nutritive value, dry matter and mineral contents and in vitro fermentation parameters. Legume species differed significantly ( < 0.05) in various nutritional aspects such as organic matter, crude protein (CP), ether extract, fibres and protein fractions. Perennial had higher ( < 0.05) buffer soluble protein (477), while neutral detergent soluble protein was highest in annually grown (420 g/kg CP). (AS) had higher levels of nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) (392 g/kg dry matter (DM)) than structural carbohydrates (SC) (367 g/kg DM). Its rapidly degradable fraction (51.7 g/kg (total carbohydrate) tCHO) was lower ( < 0.05) than other fractions of carbohydrates. Total digestible nutrients, digestible energy and metabolisable energy varied, with (DV) having higher values and (SSe) having the lowest. Predicted dry matter intake, digestible dry matter and relative feed value also showed significant differences ( < 0.05). Annual grasses such as , , (RM) were found to be better balanced with micro minerals. In vitro dry matter degradability, partition factor, short-chain fatty acids and microbial protein production of legumes varied significantly ( < 0.05). Gas and CH production (mL/g and mL/g (digestible DM) DDM) also varied, with -blue having the highest gas production and -white (CT-w) and AS having lower CH production. Methane in total gas was low for DV, RM and CT-w (8.99%, 9.72% and 9.51%). Loss of DE and ME as CH varied ( < 0.05) among the legumes. Each legume offers unique benefits, potentially allowing for tailored combinations of annual and perennial legumes to optimize rumen feed efficiency.