Abstract

The Mucuna pruriens is commonly used in traditional medicine for anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, neuroprotector, antidiabetic, and anti-cancer purposes. The bioactive compounds, such as flavonoid, tannin, and saponin, could improve feed digestion efficiency in ruminants’ rumen. The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of different dosages and the two methods of saponin preparation from Mucuna pruriens leaves on in vitro feed digestibility parameters. A randomized block design with nested arrangements (2×5×3) was used in this study. Two methods of obtaining saponins from Mucuna pruriens leaves, including meal (MPLM) and extract (MPLE) of Mucuna pruriens leaves, were compared. The nested treatments of the preparation methods were the dosages of the saponin as feed additives in feed samples, involving 0, 0.025, 0.050, 0.075, and 0.10. There were 15 samples in each group (five-level dosage and three repetitions). The feed contained 40 forage and 60 concentrate. The obtained results indicated that saponin preparation from Mucuna pruriens leaves (MPLM and MPLE) significantly affected dry matter, organic matter, and crude fiber rumen degradability (r-DMD, r-OMD, r-CFD, respectively), as well as NH3, volatile fatty acid, propionate, butyrate concentrations, acetate-to-propionate (A/P) ratio, acetate, and propionate percentage. However, there was no significant impact on protozoa population, acetate concentration, butyrate percentage, in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD). The MPLM saponin revealed significantly higher values on digestibility parameters except for protozoa, A/P ratio, and acetate percentage. The MPLM saponin dosage of 0.05 showed the highest values for r-DMD (56.48), r-OMD (56.51), and r-CFD (54.64), total Volatile fatty acid (77.71 mM), propionate (21.57 mM), propionate percentage (27.76), IVDMD (65.95), and IVOMD (65.86), but lowest in A/P ratio (2.04). In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that the MPLM saponin at a dosage of 0.05 holds promising potential for enhancing the fermentation profile in ruminants. © The Author(s) 2024. All Rights Reserved.