Effect of species on nutritive value of mulberry leaves [Dut Yapraklari{dotless}ni{dotless}n Besleme Deǧerine Türün Etkisi]

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of species on the nutritive value of mulberry leaves using chemical composition and in vitro gas production technique. the leaves of four different mulberry species were collected from 10 different trees. gas productions of mulberry leaves were determined at 0,3,6,12,24,48,72 and 96 h incubation times and their gas production kinetics were described using the equation y = a (1-exp-ct). species had a significant effect on the chemical composition,in vitro gas production,metabolisable energy (me) and organic matter digestibility (omd) of mulberry leaves. dry matter (dm),crude protein (cp),neutral detergent fiber (ndf),acid detergent fiber (adf),ash and condensed tannin (ct) contents of mulberry leaves ranged from 25.97% to 46.27%,11.75% to 23.72%,19.38% to 33.33%,17.33% to 26.06%,15.40% to 22.3% and 0.47% to 0.76% respectively. the ndf and ash contents of morus rubra were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of other mulberry species whereas adf and cp contents of morus alba pendula were significantly (p<0.001) higher then those of other mulberry species. on the other hand the dm content of morus alba was significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of others. almost at all incubation times,gas productions of morus nigra and morus alba pendula were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of morus alba and morus rubra. the values for me,omd and potential gas production (a) of morus alba pendula were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of the other mulberry species whereas the gas production rates of morus alba pendula and morus alba were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of morus rubra and morus nigra. the time to produce 50% and 95% of total gas production (t50 and t95) of morus alba pendula and morus alba were significantly (p<0.001) higher than those of morus rubra and morus nigra. in conclusion,species had a significant effect on the nutritive value of mulberry leaves. although there were marked differences among species in chemical composition and some estimated parameter of mulberry leaves,it can be said that mulberry leaves had high cp content and were quite digestible.