Use of Mulberry Leaf in Animal Nutrition

Abstract

The increasing costs of conventional feedstuffs like corn, soybean meal and fish meal for poultry diets is pushing the need to find less expensive alternatives. Mulberry grows well in the tropics and subtropics, and is reported to have excellent nutritional value. Mulberry leaves are very rich in protein (15-35%), minerals (2.42-4.71% Ca, 0.23-0.97% P), 1130-2240 kcal/kg metabolic energy (ME). The amino acids composition of mulberry leaf meal indicates it is a good source of essential amino acids especially lysine (1.80%) and leucine (2.58%). In this paper, studies made on the mulberry leaf used in nutrition of poultries have been reviewed.