Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida)

Datasheet

Description

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Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida), Burkina Faso

Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida), Namibia

Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida), inflorescence

Common names

Apple-ring acacia, ana tree, anatree, balanzan tree, winter thorn [English]; arbre blanc [French]; espina de invierno [Spanish]; espinheiro de Angola [Portuguese]; Anaboom [Afrikaans]; balanzan [Bambara]; Anabaum [German]; Gao [Niger]; シロアカシア [Japanese]; Kadd [Wolof]

Species

Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev. [Fabaceae]

Synonyms

Acacia albida Del., Acacia albida Del. var. microfoliata De Wild., Acacia albida Del. var. varifoliata De Wild., Acacia gyrocarpa Hochst. ex. A. Rich., Acacia leucocephala Link, Acacia mossambecensis Bolle, Acacia saccharata Benth (USDA, 2009).

Related feed(s)

Description

The apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev.) is a deciduous legume tree, up to 30 m high. It has a deep taproot, down to 40 m. Its branches bear paired thorns and its leaves are pinnate with 6-23 pairs of small oblong leaflets. Flowers are arranged in yellow spikes, fruits (pods) are twisted and shiny orange, indehiscent, 25 cm long and 5 cm broad (Orwa et al., 2009). Faidherbia albida has an inverse phenology: it sheds its leaves during the wet season, while the leaves mature during the dry season and the pods ripen at the end. It is thus valuable in periods of scarcity as fodder but also as famine food: people eat the seeds during droughts, even though they require a long preparation time (Ecoport, 2009; Bernard, 2002).

Distribution

Faidherbia albida is native to arid or semi-arid areas of Africa and is widespread on the African continent. It is commonly found in the Middle-East and in South-East Asia, India, Pakistan, Cyprus, Cape Verde and Peru (Orwa et al., 2009). It grows well in sandy areas with 250-1800 mm annual rainfall and long dry seasons, with temperatures ranging from 6°C to 42°C (Ecoport, 2009). It is tolerant to waterlogging and salinity (Orwa et al., 2009).

Forage management

Annual yield ranges from 20-30 kg fruits/tree/year (FAO, 2009) to about 125 kg fruits/tree/year (Bernard, 2002).

Environmental impact

Thanks to its leaf and flowering pattern, Faidherbia albida is an ideal agroforestry species: it can grow among field crops without shading them during the wet season and provides shade during drought periods (Orwa et al., 2009). Shedding leaves at the beginning of the wet season quickly provides nutrients to the soil (N, P, Ca). The leaves mixed with the dung and urine of cattle that seek the shade of trees in hot weather and the ability of the tree to fix nitrogen make it a valuable asset in maintaining soil fertility (Ecoport, 2009). It has been recommended to intercrop apple-ring trees with maize rather than Leucaena leucocephala (Orwa et al., 2009), or to intercrop them with sorghum (Gutteridge et al., 1994), or pearl millet and groundnut (Bernard, 2002).

Nutritional aspects

Potential constraints

The leaves and pods contain high levels of tannins (Nsahlai et al., 1999).

Ruminants

Faidherbia albida is highly regarded by herdsmen and farmers in arid and semi-arid regions of Africa (Gutteridge et al., 1994). The leaves and pods are palatable to livestock. The pods had the highest intake of several legume species in cattle, goats and sheep (Shayo et al., 1999).

Cattle

It is recommended to grind pods in order to feed cattle more efficiently (Shayo et al., 1999). Ground pods supplemented to dairy cows fed on grass hay were found to be suitable for milk production up to 1 kg pods (DM) per day (Bwire et al., 2004).

Sheep

Faidherbia albida pods were beneficial to sheep fed on noug (Guizotia abyssinica) or groundnut meal and resulted in higher liveweight gain (Nsahlai et al., 1999).

Goats

Faidherbia albida has a high forage value for goats (Yahaya et al., 2000). In Senegal, goats offered several browse species had a preference for apple-ring tree (Cisse et al., 2002).

Male goats in Sudan fed up to 45% pods in the diet had a better feed intake and feed conversion ratio (Ibrahim et al., 2003). Feeding lactating goats with pods and urea-treated sorghum straw resulted in increased milk yield (Ahmed et al., 2001).

Rabbits

Faidherbia albida pods are suitable for rabbits. They may be included up to 40% of the diet without negatively affecting nutrient digestibility and blood parameters, and resulted in reduced feed costs (Igwebuike et al., 1999a; Igwebuike et al., 1999b; Igwebuike et al., 2003; Igwebuike et al., 2008).

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

Apple-ring acacia, leaves, fresh

Main analysis	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Dry matter	% as fed	38.5	6.3	30.7	44.4	4
Crude protein	% DM	15.1	3.1	11.6	25.1	60
Crude fibre	% DM	20.4	4.9	12.4	33.0	14
NDF	% DM	39.9	3.7	31.5	47.2	54
ADF	% DM	29.7	4.3	22.1	37.8	52
Lignin	% DM	13.5	3.0	7.9	19.4	48
Ether extract	% DM	4.6	0.8	2.3	6.3	37
Ash	% DM	9.3	2.0	3.9	12.3	58
Gross energy	MJ/kg DM	18.3					*

Minerals	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Calcium	g/kg DM	17.0	6.6	10.0	33.6	12
Phosphorus	g/kg DM	1.8	0.4	0.9	2.5	13
Potassium	g/kg DM	10.6	3.7	5.2	15.9	7
Sodium	g/kg DM	0.4	0.5	0.0	0.9	3
Magnesium	g/kg DM	3.5	1.0	2.4	4.9	9
Manganese	mg/kg DM	63		53	73	2
Zinc	mg/kg DM	27		26	29	2
Copper	mg/kg DM	9		6	13	2
Iron	mg/kg DM	1171				1

Secondary metabolites	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid)	g/kg DM	36.2	29.0	4.0	111.0	10
Tannins, condensed (eq. catechin)	g/kg DM	39.6		0.3	79.0	2

Ruminant nutritive values	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant	%	74.9					*
Energy digestibility, ruminants	%	71.7					*
DE ruminants	MJ/kg DM	13.1					*
ME ruminants	MJ/kg DM	10.6					*
a (N)	%	46.0				1
b (N)	%	30.0				1
c (N)	h-1	0.045				1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%)	%	62					*
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%)	%	59					*

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

References

Bartha, 1970; CGIAR, 2009; CIRAD, 1991; Fall Touré, 1991; Getachew et al., 2000; Orskov et al., 1992; Russell, 1947; Shayo et al., 1999

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

Apple-ring acacia, leaves, dry

Main analysis	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Dry matter	% as fed	92.4	1.2	90.2	93.6	26
Crude protein	% DM	12.0	0.9	10.3	13.9	26
NDF	% DM	37.9	2.1	34.1	41.3	18
ADF	% DM	28.5	2.3	23.7	32.0	26
Lignin	% DM	14.1	1.5	11.1	16.3	26
Ether extract	% DM	6.5	1.0	4.9	8.4	26
Ash	% DM	10.9	1.3	8.7	13.1	26

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

References

CIRAD, 1991

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

Apple-ring acacia, pods

Main analysis	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Dry matter	% as fed	92.1	1.1	89.2	94.2	45
Crude protein	% DM	11.0	1.1	8.6	14.3	52
Crude fibre	% DM	26.4	3.3	19.7	30.7	26
NDF	% DM	42.9	2.5	37.4	47.9	21
ADF	% DM	33.6	2.5	28.8	38.6	37
Lignin	% DM	8.8	1.0	6.7	11.0	36
Ether extract	% DM	1.2	0.2	0.9	1.8	44
Ash	% DM	4.1	0.4	3.4	5.0	51
Gross energy	MJ/kg DM	18.5		18.5	20.3	2	*

Minerals	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Calcium	g/kg DM	3.8	1.1	2.3	6.4	18
Phosphorus	g/kg DM	1.6	0.3	1.3	2.3	18
Potassium	g/kg DM	12.0	1.3	9.2	14.8	16
Sodium	g/kg DM	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.4	7
Magnesium	g/kg DM	1.5	0.5	0.9	3.3	16
Manganese	mg/kg DM	22	17	13	71	10
Zinc	mg/kg DM	18	5	10	28	9
Copper	mg/kg DM	5	2	3	8	10
Iron	mg/kg DM	68				1

Secondary metabolites	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid)	g/kg DM	7.3	3.4	2.4	13.2	12
Tannins, condensed (eq. catechin)	g/kg DM	0.2		0.2	0.3	2

Ruminant nutritive values	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant	%	85.7					*
Energy digestibility, ruminants	%	83.0					*
DE ruminants	MJ/kg DM	15.4					*
ME ruminants	MJ/kg DM	12.5					*
Nitrogen digestibility, ruminants	%	51.0				1
a (N)	%	54.0				1
b (N)	%	18.0				1
c (N)	h-1	0.059				1
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=4%)	%	65					*
Nitrogen degradability (effective, k=6%)	%	63					*

Pig nutritive values	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig	%	48.7					*
DE growing pig	MJ/kg DM	9.0					*

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

References

Bartha, 1970; CGIAR, 2009; CIRAD, 1991; Fall Touré, 1991; French, 1932; Lale et al., 2002; Nsahlai et al., 1999; Parigi-Bini et al., 1991; Shayo et al., 1999; Tanner et al., 1990

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

Apple-ring acacia, seeds

Main analysis	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Dry matter	% as fed	92.9		90.2	95.5	2
Crude protein	% DM	28.4	1.9	26.8	30.5	3
Crude fibre	% DM	9.2		8.1	10.3	2
NDF	% DM	24.5		21.1	27.9	2
ADF	% DM	16.9		15.7	18.2	2
Lignin	% DM	4.4		4.2	4.5	2
Ether extract	% DM	2.8		2.5	3.0	2
Ash	% DM	4.3	0.6	3.8	5.0	3
Gross energy	MJ/kg DM	19.2					*

Minerals	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Calcium	g/kg DM	2.8		2.5	3.0	2
Phosphorus	g/kg DM	4.2		3.7	4.7	2
Potassium	g/kg DM	10.7				1
Magnesium	g/kg DM	2.8				1

Secondary metabolites	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Tannins (eq. tannic acid)	g/kg DM	0.0				1

Ruminant nutritive values	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
OM digestibility, Ruminant	%	91.1					*
Energy digestibility, ruminants	%	90.0					*
DE ruminants	MJ/kg DM	17.3					*
ME ruminants	MJ/kg DM	13.8					*

Pig nutritive values	Unit	Avg	SD	Min	Max	Nb
Energy digestibility, growing pig	%	75.7					*
DE growing pig	MJ/kg DM	14.6					*

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

References

CIRAD, 1991; Tanner et al., 1990

Last updated on 24/10/2012 00:43:12

References

Aganga, A. A.; Adogla-Bessa, T.; Omphile, U. J.; Tshireletso, K., 2000. Significance of browses in the nutrition of Tswana goats. Arch. Zootec., 49 (188): 469-480
Ahmed, M. M. M. ; El Hag, F. M. ; Wahab, F. S. ; Salih, S. F., 2001. Feeding strategies during dry summer for lactating desert goats in a rainfed area under tropical conditions. Small Rumin. Res., 39: 161-166
Bartha, R., 1970. Fodder plants in the Sahel zone of Africa. München, Weltforum Verlag
Bernard, C., 2002. Faidherbia albida (Delile) A.Chev.. Record from Protabase. Oyen, L.P.A. & Lemmens, R.H.M.J. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands
Bwire, J. M. N. ; Wiktorsson, H. ; Shayo, C. M., 2004. Effect of level of Acacia tortilis and Faidherbia albida pods supplementation on the milk quality of dual-purpose dairy cows fed grass hay-based diets. Livest. Prod. Sci., 87 (2-3): 229-236
Cisse, M. ; Ly, I. ; Nianogo, A. J. ; Sane, I. ; Sawadogo, J. G. ; N'Diaye, M. ; Awad, C. ; Fall, Y., 2002. Grazing behavior and milk yield of Senegalese Sahel goat. Small Rumin. Res., 43 (1): 85-95
Depommier, D. ; Guérin, H., 1996. Emondage traditionnel de Faidherbia albida. Production fourragère, valeur nutritive et récolte de bois à Dossi et Watinoma (Burkina Faso). In: Les parcs à Faidherbia. Montpellier, France, CIRAD-Forêt, p 55-84
Ecoport, 2009. Ecoport database. Ecoport
Fall Touré, S. ; Michalet-Doreau, B. ; Traore, E. ; Friot, D. ; Richard, D., 1998. Occurrence of digestive interactions in tree forage-based diets for sheep. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 74 (1): 63-78
Fall Touré, S., 1991. In vitro digestibility and degradability in situ in the rumen of woody forage available on natural grasslands in Senegal. First results. Rev. Elev. Méd. Vét. Pays Trop., 44: 345-354
FAO, 2009. Grassland Index. A searchable catalogue of grass and forage legumes. FAO, Rome, Italy
French, M. H., 1932. Animal nutrition research. Ann. Rept Dept Vet. Sci. Anim. Husb., Tanganyika, 34: 24-69
Gutteridge, R. C. ; Shelton, H. M., 1994. Forage tree legumes in tropical agriculture. The Tropical Grassland Society of Australia
Ibrahim, A. ; Tibin, I. M., 2003. Feeding potential of Faidherbia albida ripe pods for Sudan desert goats. Scientific journal of King Faisal University (Basic and applied sciences) 4 (1): 1424
Igwebuike, J. U. ; Anugwa, F. O. I. ; Mustapha, I., 1999. Utilization of Acacia albida pods for rabbit feeding. 1. Effects on growth and organ weights of growing rabbits. Int. J. Anim. Sci., 14 (2): 231-236
Igwebuike, J. U. ; Anugwa, F. O. I. ; Shehlu, I. B., 1999. Utilization of Acacia albida pods for rabbit feeding. 2. Effects on nutrient digestibility, mineral availability and economics of production. Int. J. Anim. Sci., 14 (2): 237-243
Igwebuike, J. U. ; Anugwa, F. O. I. ; Ikurior, S. A. ; Ehiobu, N. G., 2003. Effect of feeding graded levels of soaked Acacia albida pods on the performance of growing rabbits. Indian J. Anim. Sci., 73 (7): 802-806
Igwebuike, J. U. ; Anugwa, F. O. I. ; Raji, A. O. ; Ehiobu, N. G. ; Ikurior, S. A., 2008. Nutrient digestibility, haematological and serum biochemical indices of rabbits fed graded levels of Acacia albida pods. ARPN J. Agric. Biol. Sci., 3 (4): 33-40
Lale, N. E. S; Igwebuike, J. U., 2002. Field infestation of Faidherbia (Acacia) albida (Del.) A. Chew. pods by stored product Coleoptera in the Nigerian savanna and effect of infestation on nutrient quality. J. Arid Environ., 51: 103-112
Nsahlai, I. V. ; Umunna, N. N. ; Osuji, P. O., 1999. Influence of feeding sheep on oilseed cake following the consumption of tanniferous feeds. Livest. Prod. Sci., 60: 59-69
Onana, J., 1995. Les ligneux fourragers du Nord-Cameroun. I. Inventaire et phénologie. (Browse trees of north Cameroon. I. Inventory and phenology). Rev. Elev. Méd. Vét. Pays Trop., 48 (2): 213-219
Ørskov, E. R. ; Nakashima, Y. ; Abreu, J. M. F. ; Kibon, A. ; Tuah, A. K., 1992. Data on DM degradability of feedstuffs. Studies at and in association with the Rowett Research Organization, Bucksburn, Aberdeen, UK. Personal Communication
Orwa, C.; Mutua, A.; Kindt, R.; Jamnadass, R.; Anthony, S., 2009. Agroforestree Database: a tree reference and selection guide version 4.0. World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya
Russell, F. C., 1947. The chemical composition and digestibility of fodder shrubs and trees. In: The use and misuse of shrubs and trees as fodder. Imperial Agricultural Bureaux. Joint Publication No. 10, 185-231
Sanon, H. O.; Kaboré-Zoungrana, C.; Ledin, I., 2007. Behaviour of goats, sheep and cattle and their selection of browse species on natural pasture in a Sahelian area. Small Rumin. Res., 67 (1): 64–74
Shayo, C. M. ; Uden, P., 1998. Recovery of seed of four African browse shrubs ingested by cattle, sheep and goats and the effect of ingestion, hot water and acid treatment on the viability of the seeds. Trop. Grassl., 32 (3): 195-200
Shayo, C. M. ; Udén, P., 1999. Nutritional uniformity of neutral detergent solubles in some tropical browse leaf and pod diets. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 82 (1-2): 63-73
USDA, 2009. GRIN - Germplasm Resources Information Network. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland
Walker, K. P. ; Theron, J. M. ; Moseki, B., 2008. Performance of planted indigenous trees, Acacia galpinii and Faidherbia albida, in semi-arid Botswana. South. Forests, 70 (3): 205-213
Yahaya, M. S. ; Takahashi, J. ; Matsuoka, S. ; Kibon, A. ; Dibal, D. B., 2000. Evaluation of arid region browse species from north eastern Nigeria using pen fed goats. Small Rumin. Res., 38: 83-86
Zampaligré, N.; Dossa, L. H.; Schlecht, E., 2013. Contribution of browse to ruminant nutrition across three agro-ecological zones of Burkina Faso. J. Arid Env., 95: 55-64

Datasheet citation

Heuzé V., Tran G., 2016. Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida). Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO. https://www.feedipedia.org/node/357 Last updated on March 21, 2016, 16:52

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

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Apple-ring acacia (Faidherbia albida)