Swamp taro cocoyam (cytosperma chamissonis) as a potential feedstuff for livestock

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the nutritional potentials of some parts (corm and leaves) of swamp taro cocoyam (Cytosperma chamiIssonis) as a feed resource for livestock. The corm was prepared by washing in water before slicing into small pieces with sharp knife. The sliced corms were shared into two parts, one part sun dried for three days and the other part boiled and then sun dried for five days. Thereafter, the two parts were ground into powder separately with a mechanical blender, labeled and stored in different air-tight bottles. The leaves were washed, chopped into smaller pieces, sun dried, pulverized, labeled and stored. These stored samples were subjected to series of chemical analyses (proximate, phytochemical, mineral and vitamin determinations) to elucidate their chemical, toxicant, mineral and vitamin compositions. The results of proximate composition of the corm and leaves showed that the fresh leaves contained higher crude protein value (22.87t0.23 %), followed by raw sun dried corm (7.93+0.11 %). The fresh. leaves also contained higher crude fibre (6.73:0.01 %) than either the raw sun dried corm (1.36:0.05 %) or boiled sun dried corm (1.15+0.01 %). The boiled sun dried corm had the highest nitrogen free extract (NFE) or carbohydrate value (75.32+0.15 %), followed by the raw sun dried corm (74.31t0.05 %) and the fresh leaves (69.00t0.26 %). The dried leaves had the lowest NFE value (61.04:0.20 %). The results also showed that the leaves were richer in iron, flavonoid and alkaloid than the corm. In the contrary, the corm contained higher levels of phytate than the leaves. The results of vitamin and mineral determinations showed that the cocoyam leaves contained higher levels of evaluated vitamins (vit. A, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and vit. C) than the corm. Besides, the leaves contained higher levels of magnesium, copper, potassium and iron than the corm, while the reverse is true for calcium, zinc, sodium and manganese. The statistical analyses for proximate composition between the fresh and dried leaves were significant (P<0.05) for CP, CF, ether extract, total ash and NFE. The analyses for these same fractions were not significant (P>0.05) between the raw sun dried and boiled sun dried corms. The analyses for mineral composition between the fresh and dry leaves, and between the raw sun dried and boiled sun dried corms were significantly (P<0.05) different for Cu, Mg, K, Na and Fe, but not for Zn, Ca and Mn. The analyses for vitamin composition between the fresh and dry leaves, and between the raw sun dried and boiled sun dried corms were significantly (P<0.05) different for riboflavin and vit. C, but not for niacin, thiamin and vit. A. The results of this study are indicative that the leaves and corm of swamp taro cocoyam are promising feed resources for livestock. It is therefore recommended that greater emphasis be placed on the production of swamp taro cocoyam because of its numerous benefits.