R.  Foroughbakhch, A.  Carrillo-Parra, M.L.  Cardenas-Avila, S.  Moreno-Limon, 
    Seasonal Changes in Alimentary Value and Digestibility of <I>Gleditsia triacanthos</I> L.,
    Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances,
    Volume 11,Issue 22,
    2012,
    Pages 4279-4282,
    ISSN 1680-5593,
    javaa.2012.4279.4282,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=javaa.2012.4279.4282)
    Abstract: Pods and leaves as an energy supplement is a basic forage, 
  rich in protein and highly digestible. The nutritional values of pods and leaves 
  differ among trees due to highly specific proteins of different digestibility. 
  To estimate and compare seasonally, the chemical composition and <I>in vitro</I> 
  digestibility of nutrients in leaves and entire pods of <I>Gleditsia triacanthos</I> 
  L. plants were harvested from a native shrubs and trees during Fall 2004, Winter, 
  Spring and Summer 2005. The <I>in vitro</I> technique was used to measure the 
  digestibility of Dry Matter (DM) and Crude Protein (CP). The crude protein content 
  varied within range of 7.8% (Winter) to 9.4% (Summer) for leaves and from 12% 
  (Spring) to 15% (Fall) for entire pods. The annual means of acid detergent fiber 
  (19.5%) and neutral detergent fiber (35.8%) content in leaves was lower than 
  the alfalfa (26%) as feed reference. However, the annual means of ADF for pods 
  (30.6%) was higher than the (<I>Medicago sativa</I>). The lignin content was 
  high both in leaves (10.4%) as well as in pods (12.1%) in comparison to the 
  alfalfa (9%). In general, during the Spring (71.4%) and Summer (73.4%) the entire 
  pods were higher in CP and DM digestibility and during Winter (56.3-64.2%) were 
  low.
    Keywords: Gleditisia triacanthos;chemical composition;in vitro digestibility;dry matter;crude protein