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Tamarind (Tamarindus indica)

Datasheet

Description
Click on the "Nutritional aspects" tab for recommendations for ruminants, pigs, poultry, rabbits, horses, fish and crustaceans
Common names 

Tamarind, tamarind tree [English]; tamarindo [Spanish/Italian]; tamarinier [French]; tamarindeiro, tamarineiro, tamarineira [Portuguese]; tamarinde [Afrikaans/Dutch]; Tamarindenbaum [German]; asam jawa [Indonesian]; asem jawa [Javanese]; Tsamiya [Hausa]; raqay [Somali]; Sampalok [Tagalog]; Demirhindi [Turkish]; تمر هندي [Arabic]; তেঁতুল [Bengali]; မန်ကျည်း [Burmese]; 酸豆 [Chinese]; આમલી [Gujarati]; תמרינדי [Hebrew]; इमली [Hindi]; タマリンド [Japanese]; ಹುಣಸೆ [Kannada]; 타마린드 [Korean]; പുളി [Malayalam]; चिंच [Marathi]; ਇਮਲੀ [Punjabi]; Тамаринд [Russian]; සියඹලා [Sinhala]; புளி [Tamil]; చింత [Telugu]; มะขาม [Thai]

Synonyms 

Tamarindus umbrosa Salisb., Tamarindus officinalis Hook, Tamarindus occidentalis Gaertn. (USDA, 2009)

Related feed(s) 
Description 

The tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) is a usually evergreen legume tree. It grows slowly, up to 25-30 m high, and can live as long as 200 years. Leaves are compound, divided in 10-18 opposite and oblong leaflets. Orange-yellow or pinkish flowers are grouped in racemes. Fruits occur 7-12 years after sowing. They are rusty-coloured pods, 10-18 cm long x 2 cm broad (NRC, 2008). The pods contain a sour pulp surrounding the seeds. They are edible and used in many culinary recipes around the world.

Distribution 

The tamarind is native to the drier savannahs of East Africa and Madagascar. It may have been introduced in tropical Asia by Arabian traders (Ecoport, 2009). It is now widespread throughout the tropics. It is very common in Central America and the Caribbean, and cultivated in Australia and Florida. It can withstand drought by shedding its leaves, as well as short occasional floodings and slight saline sprays (near the sea coasts). It is very sensitive to frost and does not grow well under 7°C.

Forage management 

The tree normally yields about 150 kg pods/year, but this can be as high as 200-300 kg (Orwa et al., 2009; Coronel, 1991).

Environmental impact 

Because of its deep roots, the tamarind is suitable to stabilize soils and to make windbreaks. It is also a firebreak since grass does not grow under its dense crown (Ecoport, 2009).

Nutritional aspects
Nutritional attributes 

Tamarind foliage, pods, seeds and pod husks are used as feedstuffs. The foliage has a high forage value, but it is rarely lopped for this purpose because it affects fruit yields.

Ruminants 

Tamarind foliage

In a sheep trial, tamarind foliage was one of the most palatable species among 40 Ethiopian multipurpose trees (Kaitho et al., 1996).

Leaf meal

Leaf meal is a suitable replacer of sunflower seed cake in small ruminants diets during the dry season (Komwihangilo et al., 2005).

Seed meal

The seed meal has been recommended as a source of protein for cattle (Barman et al., 2006). The high tannin content of tamarind pod husks may be useful to depress methane production in crossbred dairy cows (Bhatta et al., 2001).

Pod husks

Dairy cows fed a diet containing 7.5% pod husks showed a higher live weight gain and milk yield than animals fed a compouned feed mixture without tamarind seed husks (Bhatta et al., 2000).

Pigs 

Water-soaked or cooked tamarind seeds have been used in the rations of finisher pigs and reproductive sows without negative effects on live weight gain or reproductive performance (Ravi et al., 2000; Ravi et al., 2006).

Poultry 

In broilers, tamarind seeds fed at a 30% inclusion rate in the diet had negative effects on broilers, including a lower feed intake, a lower daily gain and a higher mortality rate (Panigrahi et al., 1989).

In laying hens, the inclusion of 2% tamarind seeds in the diet had positive effects and led to a lower yolk cholesterol content and higher results in feed conversion, egg production and egg weight (Chowdhury et al., 2005).

Other species 

In the southern Indian states, cooked tamarind seeds are fed to draught animals (Orwa et al., 2009).

Nutritional tables
Tables of chemical composition and nutritional value 

Avg: average or predicted value; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum value; Max: maximum value; Nb: number of values (samples) used

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Crude protein % DM 13.9 1
NDF % DM 48.4 1
ADF % DM 32.4 1
Lignin % DM 12.1 1
Ash % DM 7.3 1
 
Secondary metabolites Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Tannins, condensed (eq. catechin) g/kg DM 8.0 1
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
a (N) % 8.0 1
b (N) % 76.4 1
c (N) h-1 0.081 1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%) % 59 *
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%) % 52 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Kaitho et al., 1997

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:15

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 37.1 15.1 25.2 54.2 3
Crude protein % DM 11.8 2.1 8.7 15.8 12
Crude fibre % DM 23.3 4.9 15.6 29.2 10
NDF % DM 54.8 6.6 42.5 60.3 6
ADF % DM 43.6 9.0 32.2 59.6 6
Lignin % DM 23.5 8.5 13.4 36.5 5
Ether extract % DM 5.9 2.1 3.5 9.6 9
Ash % DM 7.6 2.1 4.9 11.9 12
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.8 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 18.7 7.4 4.3 28.6 9
Phosphorus g/kg DM 2.1 1.4 0.9 5.2 9
Potassium g/kg DM 7.9 3.4 4.8 14.3 6
Magnesium g/kg DM 3.7 1.0 2.6 5.6 7
Zinc mg/kg DM 117 1
Copper mg/kg DM 7 1
Iron mg/kg DM 635 1
 
Amino acids Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Arginine % protein 5.9 1
Cystine % protein 0.9 1
Glycine % protein 5.0 1
Histidine % protein 2.3 1
Isoleucine % protein 5.2 1
Leucine % protein 9.2 1
Lysine % protein 5.9 1
Methionine % protein 1.3 1
Phenylalanine % protein 5.9 1
Threonine % protein 4.8 1
Tyrosine % protein 3.6 1
Valine % protein 5.9 1

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Busson, 1963; CIRAD, 1991; Gowda et al., 2004; Kibont et al., 1993; Malik et al., 1967; Orskov et al., 1992; Sen, 1938

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:15

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Dry matter % as fed 91.0 1
Crude protein % DM 15.4 2.5 13.5 18.3 3
Crude fibre % DM 26.4 1
NDF % DM 51.0 1
ADF % DM 22.6 7.4 37.9 2
Lignin % DM 6.6 1
Ether extract % DM 7.0 1.6 5.3 8.4 3
Ash % DM 2.7 0.6 2.2 3.5 4
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 20.3 *
 
Minerals Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Calcium g/kg DM 3.0 2.5 1.4 6.7 4
Phosphorus g/kg DM 1.7 1.0 0.8 3.0 4
Magnesium g/kg DM 2.5 1.5 3.5 2
Manganese mg/kg DM 36 1
Zinc mg/kg DM 69 19 119 2
Copper mg/kg DM 8 1 15 2
Iron mg/kg DM 303 1
 
Amino acids Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Alanine % protein 4.3 1
Arginine % protein 6.6 1
Aspartic acid % protein 11.3 1
Cystine % protein 3.2 1
Glutamic acid % protein 18.4 1
Glycine % protein 8.8 1
Histidine % protein 3.3 1
Isoleucine % protein 4.5 1
Leucine % protein 7.5 1
Lysine % protein 6.5 1
Methionine % protein 1.2 1
Phenylalanine % protein 4.8 1
Proline % protein 5.3 1
Serine % protein 5.9 1
Threonine % protein 3.2 1
Tyrosine % protein 5.7 1
Valine % protein 4.4 1
 
Secondary metabolites Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid) g/kg DM 29.6 1
Tannins, condensed (eq. catechin) g/kg DM 37.7 13.7 61.8 2
 
Ruminant nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant % 85.7 *
Energy digestibility, ruminants % 84.9 *
DE ruminants MJ/kg DM 17.3 *
ME ruminants MJ/kg DM 13.9 *
 
Pig nutritive values Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig % 48.7 *
DE growing pig MJ/kg DM 9.9 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Barman et al., 2006; Gowda et al., 2004; Panigrahi et al., 1989; Sen, 1938

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:15

Main analysis Unit Avg SD Min Max Nb
Crude protein % DM 7.2 1
Crude fibre % DM 20.1 1
NDF % DM 75.5 1
ADF % DM 72.5 1
Lignin % DM 42.2 1
Ether extract % DM 0.3 1
Ash % DM 2.5 1
Gross energy MJ/kg DM 18.2 *

The asterisk * indicates that the average value was obtained by an equation.

References

Bhatta et al., 2000

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:15

References
References 
Datasheet citation 

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2015. Tamarind (Tamarindus indica). Feedipedia, a programme by INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://feedipedia.org/node/249 Last updated on October 12, 2015, 11:48

English correction by Tim Smith (Animal Science consultant) and Hélène Thiollet (AFZ)