Int. J. Biosci

Chemical composition, feed intake and apparent digestibility of medicinal plant residue (MPR) used for ruminants were evaluated.MPR had higher crude protein (CP), crude fat (EE) and lower crude fiber (CF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents than those of the roughage feed-peanut vines. Compared to the concentrated feeds, MPR showed a lower CF than that of other feeds except the maize, and NDF and ADF contents were also lower than those of other feeds except the soybean meal. Dry matter intake (DMI), dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), CP, and EE digestibilities were significantly higher in sheep fed the MPR-based diet compared to the peanut vines-based diet group. However, the NDF and ADF digestibilities were lower in sheep that received MPR-based diet. The energy utilization in sheep fed MPR-based diet is more efficient than that of peanut vines-based diet group. Furthermore, we also found that MPR as a sheep diet showed no negative effect on the rumen fermentation profiles, and it could be expected to increase the microbial protein (MCP) production and reduce the acetate to propionate ratio (A/P). The results presented here clearly indicate the potential of MPR as an unconventional feedstuff for ruminants and could economize the ruminants production. * Corresponding Author: Jiannan Ding  Jiannanding@aliyun.com International Journal of Biosciences | IJB | ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print), 2222-5234 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 9, No. 4, p. 242-253, 2016