Effect of stage of maturity on dry matter yield, morphological characteristics and nutritive value of burgundy bean (<i>Macroptilium bracteatum</i>)

Abstract

The experiment evaluated effect of stage of maturity on dry matter yield, morphological characteristics and nutritive value of burgundy bean (Macroptilium bracteatum) at the screen house of Department of Agronomy, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. The treatments were 3 stages of growth repeated 3 times in a completely randomized design. Burgundy seeds were scarified and later sown in
plastic buckets containing soil-sand mixture (3:1). Plants were harvested at 47, 61 and 82 days post sowing representing vegetative pre flowering and flowering stages of growth. Parameters such as dry matter yield, morphological characteristics and nutritive value indices were evaluated. There was no significant effect of stage of maturity on dry matter yield and morphological characteristic of burgundy bean, however, numerically, dry matter yield of burgundy bean tended to increase linearly with age from 2.09 to 6.7 g pot-1 at vegetative and flowering stages respectively. Significant differences were observed among stages of growth in terms of nutritive value parameters. Crude protein was significantly greater (p<0.05) at vegetative (20.8%) compared to pre flowering (17.6) and flowering (17.9) stages. ADF and NDF were significantly higher (p<0.05) at flowering compared to other stages while parameters such as DMI, DDM and RFV were superior (p<0.05) at vegetative and pre flowering than flowering stages. Pre flowering stage was recommended as the best stage to harvest burgundy bean for improved animal performance.

Key words: Dry matter, Morphological, Chemical, flowering, pre flowering vegetative