Vol. 10, Issue 12 (2021)

Place of the study: The experiment was carried out in the Department of Agricultural Botany, Forage Research Project laboratory, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Dist.-Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India.

Methodology: Official methods of analysis of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) was used to determine the proximate composition.

Results: The proximate analysis of Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) root powder, feed and fodder resulted in the following findings: dry matter (DM%) 91.2, crude protein (CP%) 7.12, ether extract (EE%) 1.3, Nitrogen free extract (NFE%) 63.13, total ash (TA%) 8.8, organic matter (OM%) 91.2, neutral detergent fibre (NDF%) 36.22 & acid detergent fibre (ADF%) 16.2. The proximate composition of green maize & soybean straw showed following results: dry matter (DM%) 22.86, crude protein (CP%) 9.68, ether extract (EE%) 1.94, Nitrogen free extract (NFE%) 48.11, total ash (TA%) 9.05, organic matter (OM%) 90.95, neutral detergent fibre (NDF%) 65.71 & acid detergent fibre (ADF%) 44.6. The proximate composition of soybean straw found following results: dry matter (DM%) 91.01, crude protein (CP%) 5.05, ether extract (EE%) 0.92, Nitrogen free extract (NFE%) 46.89, total ash (TA%) 6.18, organic matter (OM%) 93.82, neutral detergent fibre (NDF%) 66.35 & acid detergent fibre (ADF%) 54.15.

Conclusion: It can be deduced from these results of this study that Asparagus racemosus root, green maize & soybean straw contained appreciable amounts of nutrients and minerals that aid its nutritional properties. Supplementation of Asparagus racemosus root powder reduces the production losses and veterinary cost incurred on treatment.