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Assessment of ramie leaf (Boehmeria nivea L. gaud) as an animal feed supplement in P.R. China

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Abstract

Tropical and subtropical regions were quite short of high-quality protein forage. Ramie (Boehmeria nivea L. Gaud) leaves as crop by products, are rich in protein and widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. Thence, the development and utilization of ramie is of great significance to animal production in these regions. But it contained high level of tannins and total phenols, which may produce potentially adverse effect. It is very essential to evaluate the safety of ramie leaves before they are used as feed supplements. To evaluate potential toxic level of ramie leaf, control group, low dose and high dose (0, 1, 2 g/kg·BW) groups of ramie leaf were conducted orally in Sprague-Dawley rats (SD rats). Body weight, hematology, and histopathology was assessed during 28 d of treatment and 14 d of recovery period. The results showed that there were no toxic symptoms appeared in the treated and control groups. There were a few individual indicators showed abnormal, but most indices of body weight, organ weight ratios and hematology were normal. And compared to control group, it showed no significant differences (P>0.05). Histopathological examination of the high dose group and control group showed that there was no lesions related to ramie administration. The pathological changes appeared in the liver, and lungs of rats in individual rat of both groups were common and spontaneous, and had no significant differences (P>0.05). These results suggest that under this experimental condition, up to 2 g/kg·BW intragastric administration of ramie leaf did not produce adverse effect to SD rats. These findings would provide available information for ramie leaf to utilize as a feed supplement, particularly in P.R. China.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful acknowledged for financial support by Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China (Project No.201403049), China Agriculture Research System (Project No.CARS-37), Yunling Scholar and Yunling Super-Talent Initiative-Yunling High-end Foreign Experts Program, Academician workstation of Zhibiao Nan (No. 2018IC074), High-tech Talents Introduction Program of Yunnan Province (Project No.2012HA012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agricultural Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730020, Gansu, China

    Lan Mu, Ming Cai & Zongli Wang

  2. Yunnan Academy of Grassland and Animal Science, Kunming, 650212, Yunnan, China

    Lan Mu, Ming Cai, Jianyong Liu, Tianliang Liu & Bizhi Huang

  3. China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center, Qingdao, 266032, Shandong, China

    Zongli Wang

  4. Tropical Feed Resources Research and Development Center, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 40002, Thailand

    Metha Wanapat

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  1. Lan Mu
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  2. Ming Cai
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  3. Zongli Wang
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  4. Jianyong Liu
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  7. Bizhi Huang
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Correspondence to Metha Wanapat or Bizhi Huang.

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All protocols used in the study were approved by the Lanzhou University Animal Care and Use Committee.

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Mu, L., Cai, M., Wang, Z. et al. Assessment of ramie leaf (Boehmeria nivea L. gaud) as an animal feed supplement in P.R. China. Trop Anim Health Prod 52, 115–121 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01997-w

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