The potential of natural succession to restore degraded areas of a Ugandan rainforest dominated by the exotic paper mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera (L.) L'Hér. ex Vent

Broussonetia papyrifera is an exotic tree widely grown for paper production. Due to its prolific regeneration it has invaded forestcanopy gaps and degraded farmlands and has now become an invasive species in Ghana. In enhancing its value for use the plantwas evaluated as potential forage for grazing animals vis-à-vis other two existing forage plants: Ficus exasperata and Leucaenaleucocephala.The study assessed the palatability and preference of Broussonetia papyrifera using sheep and goats for the wet anddry seasons.The species were assessed in indoor pen feeding trials using eight-unit (3×3 m) pens with the cafeteria method.The amount of forage offered was 100g (fresh material) in all instances for each species and for ten minutes. Adesign basedon 3×2×2 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used to test the differences in palatability betweenthe three forage species.Results revealed that palatability was higher (P<0.05) in Leucaena leucocephala compared with Ficusexasperata and Broussonetia papyrifera for sheep and goats across seasons. The trend shown might be the result of the effectsof familiarity with the Leucaena leucocephala since animals tend to select plants that are familiar than newly introduced andunfamiliar plants. The study also revealed high level of condensed tannin (CT) in Broussonetia papyrifera which might haveinterfered with forage intake by the animals.There were no significant differences in palatability of Broussonetia papyrifera forgoat in both dry and wet season interactions and Ficus exasperata for goat in both dry and wet season interactions (P>0.05).Thestudy concluded that Broussonetia papyrifera could be a potential feed for both sheep and goats across seasons.The researchrecommended that livestock farmers should incorporate Broussonetia papyrifera feed into their programmes for both sheep andgoats and should be introduced to animals from infancy so that it may become a familiar feed for them.

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Effects of fermented Broussonetia papyrifera on growth, intestinal antioxidant, inflammation and microbiota of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Aquaculture Reports ◽

10.1016/j.aqrep.2021.100673 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

pp. 100673

Author(s):

Tao Tang ◽

Fangle Tong ◽

Shengnan Zhao ◽

Jinhai Bai ◽

Zehong Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Grass Carp ◽

Ctenopharyngodon Idella ◽

Broussonetia Papyrifera ◽

Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon Idella

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Effects of Dietary Paper Mulberry (Broussonetia Papyrifera) on Growth Performance and Muscle Quality of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11061655 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1655

Author(s):

Tao Tang ◽

Jinhai Bai ◽

Zhipeng Ao ◽

Zehong Wei ◽

Yi Hu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Performance ◽

Muscle Fiber ◽

Grass Carp ◽

Crude Protein ◽

Fiber Diameter ◽

Control Diet ◽

Ctenopharyngodon Idella ◽

Muscle Quality ◽

Control Group ◽

Broussonetia Papyrifera

The present study investigated the effects of dietary paper mulberry (Broussonetia Papyrifera, BP) on growth performance, muscle quality and muscle growth-related mRNA expressions of grass carp. Fish (initial weight: 50.0 ± 0.5 g) were fed diets supplemented with 0% (control diet), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% BP for 8 weeks. The results showed that increasing levels of paper mulberry linearly and quadratically decreased the special gain rate (SGR) and increased the feed conversion rate (FCR) of grass carp (p < 0.05). Significantly positive quadratic trends were found between paper mulberry levels and muscle crude fat or crude protein of grass carp (p < 0.05). In comparison to the control diet, the 10%BP and 15%BP groups had significantly decreased muscle crude fat and increased crude protein (p < 0.05). The levels of paper mulberry resulted in a linear and quadratic increase in water loss of grass carp muscle (p < 0.05), and all groups with paper mulberry supplementation were significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.05). Significant positive linear and quadratic trends were found between the paper mulberry levels and muscle fiber diameter or density of grass carp (p < 0.05). In comparison to the control diet, the significant differences were found in the 15%BP and 20%BP groups (p < 0.05). The muscle adhesiveness and hardness linearly and quadratically increased with the increasing levels of paper mulberry (p < 0.05), and both of which increased significantly when the level of paper mulberry reached 10% (p < 0.05). In addition, the increase in paper mulberry linearly and quadratically improved the expressions of myoblast determination protein (MyoD), myogenin (MyoG), paired box protein 7 (Pax7) and myostatin 1 (MSTN1) (p < 0.05). When the supplementation of paper mulberry reached 15%, the expressions of all these mRNAs were significantly higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). In summary, adding 5% paper mulberry did not affect the growth of grass carp. However, the supplementation of 10% paper mulberry could improve muscle quality through improving muscle hardness, reducing fat accumulation and muscle fiber diameter, at the cost of reducing growth performance.

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