Nutritive Value of Stipagrostis lanata (Forssk.) De Winder as a Feed for Livestock

Stipagrostis lanata (Forssk.) De Winder is a perennial plant naturally growing in the Nile Delta coastal region of Egypt. Proximate analysis and anti-nutritional factors of its aboveground parts were evaluated to determine its nutritional value as a feed for livestock. The results showed that S. lanata aboveground parts contained 54.63±0.39% of dry matter (DM), 7.24±0.15% of ash content (AC), 8.21±0.16% of crude protein (CP), 3.96±0.20% of ether extract (EE), 33.17±0.53% of crude fiber, 80.59±0.23% of total carbohydrate (TC), 47.42±0.63% of digestible carbohydrates (DC) and 4.11±0.15% of digestible crude protein (DCP). Total digestible nutrients (TDN), nutritive value (NV), gross energy (GE), digestible energy (DE), metabolized energy (ME), net energy (NE), nutritional ratio (NR) and caloric value (CV) were 59.16±0.22%, 7.21±0.16%, 419.79±1.22 kcal/100 g, 2.61±0.01 Mcal kg-1, 2.14±0.01 Mcal kg-1, 4.25±0.03 MJ kg-1, 66.73±2.74 g Fu-1 and 258.2±1.66 kcal/100 g, respectively. Concentration of anti-nutrients recorded 0.036±0.002, 0.461±0.022, 0.292±0.01, 0.169±0.015, 0.966±0.116 and 2.917±0.178 % DM for total flavonoids, total phenolics, tannins, simple phenolics, alkaloids and saponins respectively, while cyanogenic glycosides was 2.132±0.156 mg/100 g DM. From the obtained results, it can be concluded that aboveground parts of S. lanata are highly nutritive and it could be utilized as a source of a feed for livestock.