Animal Feed Science and Technology, 15 (1986) 183--187 183

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., A,vmterdam - - Printed in The Netherlands

NUTRIENT AND AMINO ACID COMPOSITION OF LEUCAENA

LEUCOCEPHALA (LAM.) de WIT

T.E. EKPENYONG
University of lbadan, Division of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Animal
Science, Ibadan (Nigeria)
(Received 16 August 1984;accepted for publication 18 December 1985)

ABSTRACT

Ekpenyong, T.E., 1986. Nutrient and amino acid composition of Leucaena leucocephala
(Lava.) de Wit. Anita. Feed Sci. Technol., 15: 183--187.

Leaves and dry seeds of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit contain protein ranging
from 25.25 to 30.81%. Dry seeds have higher levels of fat (7.24%) than leaves (6.61%).
Calcium, phosphorus and potassium appear to be adequate. Leucaena seeds are rich
in isoleucine (8.0 g kg-') and have a greater content of lysine, leucine, proline and serine
than soya bean proteins (10.8, 15.3, 9.1 and 11.9 g kg -', respectively). Two peaks of
unknown amino acid-like compounds appear with calculated values of 36.05 and 0.90 g
kg-L

INTRODUCTION

Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit, a leguminose browse plant of the

tropics has excellent forage qualities, is high in protein and readily browsed
by livestock. Young leaves, pods and seeds contain more protein but lower
crude fibre and fat than mature ones (Adeneye, 1979). Seeds contain more
fat than other edible plant parts. Reports from elsewhere show that the
leaves are palatable, contain a good source of amino acids and are rich in
carotene, vitamins, calcium and phosphorus (Jones, 1979; National Academy
of Sciences, 1977).
Despite its advantages in livestock production, the foliage contains an
uncommon amino acid, mimosine, which is toxic to livestock. Mimosine
comprises 3.5% of the protein of leucaena diets, but at a level of 10% or
more incorporation into the diet, it causes loss in weight, loss of appetite,
stunted growth, goiter and aleopecia (NAS, 1977).
The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutrient and amino acid
composition of the leaves and seeds of Leucaena.

0377-8401/86/$03.50 © 1986 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

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MATERIALS AND METHODS

Leaves of Leucaena were obtained locally and a proportion was sun dried
for 3--4 days. The fresh leaves from 10 plants were bulked and put in label-
led polythene bags. Seeds were similarly obtained and the seed coat removed
mechanically. Representative sub-samples of the fresh, sun-dried leaves
and brown, matured seeds with the seed coat removed were dried in a
forced<lraught oven at l l 0 ° C for 2--3 days to calculate the percent dry
matter. Another group of samples, obtained from the bulk sample, was dried
in the forced-draught oven at a lower temperature {65--70 ° C) for 3--4 days,
milled to fine powder and then stored in sample bottles pending chemical
analysis.
Proximate analysis of the samples was determined in duplicate using
standard procedures of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists
(1980). Protein was determined by the rapid micro-Kjeldahl method of
Concon and Saltess {1973), while the modified method of Bligh and Dyer
(1959) was used for lipid extraction. The mineral content of the fresh and
dried leaves was determined in the atomic absorption spectrophotometer
after wet digestion.
The amino acid composition was determined at the Poultry Research
Centre, Roslin, Scotland by the standard method of analysis in use in that
laboratory (R.K. Scougall, personal communication, 1984). Tryptophan was
determined by the modified method of Hoiz {1972) as reported by McNab
and Scougall (1982). Cystine/cysteine and methionine in the protein were
determined by oxidation with performic acid according to the method of
Moore (1963).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The nutrient composition of fresh and dry leaves together with mature
seeds shows that the latter contain the highest amount of protein (Table I).
All three parts can be used for livestock feeds because of their high protein
level. These three parts also contain higher amounts of protein than reported
for other locally grown forage legumes, with a protein range of 15--20%
(Ademosun and Baumgardt, 1967; Mecha and Adegbola, 1980}. More
fat was stored in the seeds (7.24%} than in either of the two forms of leaves.
Leucaena contains appreciable levels of calcium and phosphorus, and
reports have shown that it is a rich source of B-carotene (NAS, 1977),
which is especially significant during prolonged drought in tropical countries
when leucaena retains its green pigment in the leaf better than many other
tropical pasture species.
The amino acid content was submitted to entirely separate processing
and amino acid analysis. (Table II} The two columns of figures and the
average refer to one analysis of a particular amino acid. Results show that
the amino acid pattern contains essential amino acids comparable with
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TABLE I

Nutrient composition of leaves and seeds of Leucaena (% dry matter basis)

Composition Fresh leaves Dry leaves Mature Seeds

(%) (%) (%) (%)

Dry matter 22.73 36.46 81.73

Crude protein 28.92 25.25 30.81
Crude fibre 18.24 9.33 20.45
Ether Extract 5.44 6.61 7.24
Total ash 8.83 10.76 8.80

Minerals (%)
Calcium 1.24 1.12 1.09
Phosphorus 0.19 0.94 0.69
Potassium 1.41 1.02 1.50
Magnesium 0.64 0.95 1.11
Sodium 0.07 0.04 0.05

TABLE II

Amino acid composition of the protein of Leucaena seeds (g kg- ~)

Amino Acid Leucaena Seeds Mean

I II

Aspartic 30.2 28.9 29.55

Hydrixpoline 1.0 1.0 1.00
Threonine 8.1 7.9 8.00
Serine 11.9 11.5 11.70
Glutamic acid 38.4 36.0 37.20
Proline 9.1 8.2 8.65
Glycine 11.2 10.9 11.05
Alanine 11.8 10.8 11.30
Valine 10.8 10.4 10.60
Isoleucine 8.2 7.8 8.00
Leucine 15.3 14.5 14.90
Tyrosine 7.6 7.2 7.40
Phenylalanine 8.7 8.1 8.40
Histidine 5.9 6.2 6.05
Lysine 10.8 11.2 11.00
Arginine 14.6 13.8 14.20
1~ Cystine 2.4 2.5 2.45
Methionine 2.0 2.2 2.10
Tryptophan 1.0 0.9 0.95
Unknown 1 37.1 35.0 36.05
Unknown 2 0.9 0.9 0.90
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those in other tropical feed sources. In fact, it is clear that the seed protein
of Leucaena is particularly rich in isoleucine, and the result here confirms
the view that Leucaena protein is richer than alfalfa and copra in a number
of the amino acids, and is equivalent to them in others (NAS, 1977).
Leucaena proteins are richer than soya bean proteins in terms of lysine,
leucine, isoleucine, proline and serine, but lower than soya bean in the
content of sulphur-amino acids.
An u n c o m m o n amino acid was found with levels as high as 36%. Hylin
(1964) incorporated radioactivity during his study of the biosynthesis of
mimosine into one of the compounds, 5-dydroxypipecolic acid. His study
indicated that lysine is a precursor of the u n c o m m o n amino acid, mimosine.
The unknown amino acids which appeared were calculated by assuming the
molecular weight of nor-leucine. Consequently, the reported concentrations
were not absolute values, but only a rough indication of the amounts present.
If our assumption is correct, Leucaena has a very high level of mimosine
(36%) which in its raw form causes a great deal of inconvenience in animal
production. The identification of the two unkown peaks was not possible.
However, the elution of the peaks relative to the internal standard used
(nor-leucine) shows that Unknown 1 appears close to tyrosine, while Un-
known 2 appears close to phenylalanine. It has been well documented that
seeds and leaves of L. leucocephale contain large amounts of non-protein
amino acids.
The work of Hylin (1964) shows the biosynthesis of mimosine. The
unknown peaks could only be conjectured to be one of the unidentified
compounds wich give rise to mimosine.
It is well documented that as a result of the high mimosine content,
animals fed a pure Leucaena diet show only poor growth, but when fed as
a protein supplement (5--8% of the diet) with other feeds, no toxic effects
were observed and the beneficial effects recorded were comparable with
other protein sources such as groundnut cake and fish meal (Jones, 1979).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to acknowledge the cooperation of R.K. Scougall and

the Poultry Research Centre {Agriculture Research Council), Roslin, Edin-
burgh for the amino acid analysis.

REFERENCES

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A s s o c i a t i o n of Official Analytical Chemists, 1980. Official Methods of Analysis. A.O.A.C.,
Washington, D.C.
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