Characterisation of the leaf meals, protein concentrates and residues from some tropical leguminous plants

Leaf meals (LMs) from freshly harvested leaves of butterfly pea ( Centrosema pubescens ), devil bean ( Mucuna pruriens ), flamboyant flower ( Delonix regia ), Bauhinia tomentosa , coast wattle ( Acacia auriculiformis ), quick stick ( Glyricidia sepium ) and ipil‐ipil ( Leucaena leucocephala ) were analysed for their nutrient and anti‐nutritional content. Then, leaf protein concentrates (LPCs) were produced from the leaves by fractionation and characterised along with the fibrous residues. On average, the LM contained 181 g kg −1 dry matter (DM) CP (range: 100–280 g kg −1 DM), 139 g kg −1 DM crude fibre (range: 77–230 g kg −1 DM) and 133 g kg −1 DM ether extract (range: 86–165 g kg −1 DM) while the gross energy averaged 17.0 MJ kg −1 . On average, leaf protein fractionation enhanced the CP, ether extract and the gross energy in the LPC by 39.5%, 33.5% and 22.0%, respectively, while the crude fibre of the LMs was reduced by 41%, on average, in the LPCs. Fractionation reduced the mineral content of the leaves generally. The mean phytin content varied from 0.36 g kg −1 in LPCs to 0.86 g kg −1 in leaf meal, while the mean phytin‐P content varied from 0.10 g kg −1 in LPCs to 0.24 g kg −1 in leaf meal. The total phenol levels in the LMs were reduced by 33.7% in the LPCs, on average. These results suggest that, while the LPCs from these plants could be used as protein supplements in non‐ruminant feeds in regions where there is an acute shortage of plant protein, the LMs or LPC fibrous residues could be fed to ruminant animals. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry