Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

CHARACTERIZATION OF BIOMASS QUALITY OF HIGH YIELDING NAPIER GRASS SPECIES FOR FORAGE APPLICATIONS

Dana Mohamed Asraf, Vijaya Ilango and S. Ramachandran

Abstract

Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum) is a popular fodder crop for small scale dairy farmers in the high and medium potential dairy production areas of Africa due to its nutritional properties, palatability and its faster growth rate. It is also being used as a low cost supplemental feed for fish. The recent discovery of the potential use of this grass as biofuel, biogas and charcoal has led to the use of this grass as a greener source of energy production. On a laboratory study performed to characterize the properties of Napier grass species grown in the conditions of U.A.E., two species of Napier grass, Napier grass CO(CN)4 and Napier grass CO(BN)5 were screened for proximate and phytochemical analyses. The proximate analyses included moisture content, ash content, protein content and carbohydrate content. The phytochemicals present were analyzed by the HPLC and the detection of trace metals was carried out by ICP analysis. Being a drought tolerant palatable plant with high yielding capacity, the results procured on this plant has proven it to be a reliable source of fodder both economically and in terms of nutrition.