Moringa oleifera as a Potential Feed for Livestock and

Aquaculture Industry
(Review Paper)
Alemayehu Worku (MSc, Animal Production) Arba Minch University, College of Agricultural Sciences,
Department of Animal and Range science. Po.box-21. e-mail:alexovichsh@yahoo.com. Mob. 0917826753.

Abstract
This review was conducted with the objective of assessing the potential of Moringa oleifera as a
feed for Livestock and Aquaculture Industry. Different research outputs, rapid survey results and
conference papers have been reviewed to address the core issues (background, objectives,
Literature review and conclusion) of this study. Moringa oleifera is the most useful trees as feed
supplements to animals as their leaves are highly nutritious with excellent palatability,
digestibility and balanced chemical composition of protein and minerals. Moringa leaves are
readily eaten by cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and rabbits. Using moringa leaves in poultry, pigs and
fish is feasible but only in limited amounts due to the presence of fibre and antinutritional
factors. Moringa oleifera is a promising protein source for inclusion in fish diets at low levels. It
is rich in protein and has been tested in various fish species as a potential replacement for fish
meal. However, feeding trials show that only limited amounts of moringa leaf meal can be safely
used in fish diets, which is probably due to the presence of phenolics, saponins, phytic acid and
other metabolites with antinutritional effects in fish. Feeding chickens with Moringa leaves and
seeds will improve egg production. The inclusion of Moringa oleifera leaves meal up to 30% in
the diet of growing traditional chickens had no negative impact on live body weight, average
daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass and organs characteristics, health and mortality
rate in birds compared to their controls. Moringa leaves totally replacing cottonseed cake in
growing lambs fed on low-quality hay increased hay intake, diet DM digestibility and daily
weight gain. A study conducted in growing kids indicated that Moringa leaves used up to 50% as
sole supplement into diets based on low quality forage increased daily weight gain and diet
digestibility. Feeding moringa leaves had variable effects on DM intake and milk yield but did
not change milk composition in dairy cattle. When it offered as sole forage (fresh or ensiled) plus
molasses gave the same results as low nutritive forage supplemented with concentrate. In
growing steers, moringa leaves used as sole concentrate and fed at 0.59% BW resulted in 380 g
daily weight gain. Feeding tests in pigs with moringa leaf meal have been only mildy successful
as high inclusion rates were found detrimental to performance. Moringa leaf meal could be
included at 10% to partially replace commercial concentrate in growing pigs diet in backyard
conditions without hampering pig performance. As a conclusion, more attention need to be paid
to the uses of Moringa oleifera in livestock and acquaculture industry as a large scale in
countries like Ethiopia and other countries where the Moringa oleifera tree can be grown to
produce more natural products and environmentally friendly materials.
Key words: Moringa, aquaculture, Livestock