Quantification of tannins in tree foliage. A laboratory manual for the FAO/IAEA co-ordinated research project on 'Use of nuclear and related techniques to develop simple tannin assays for predicting and improving the safety and efficiency of feeding ruminants on tanniniferous tree foliage'

Tanniniferous trees and shrubs are of importance in animal production because they can provide significant protein supplements, but unfortunately the amounts of tannins that they contain vary widely and largely unpredictably, and their effects on animals range from beneficial to toxicity and death. The toxic or antinutritional effects tend to occur in times of stress when a very large proportion of the diet is tanniniferous. With a better understanding of tannin properties and proper management, they could become an invaluable source of protein for strategic supplementation. As the demand for food rises, tanniniferous plants must play an increasingly important part in the diet of animals, in particular for ruminants in smallholder subsistence farming in developing countries. It is therefore critical that techniques be developed to measure and manage the anti-nutritional components that they contain. Keeping the above in mind, a Joint FAO/IAEA Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on 'Use of Nuclear and Related Techniques to Develop Simple Tannin Assays for Predicting and Improving the Safety and Efficiency of Feeding Ruminants on Tanniniferous Tree Foliage' has been initiated. In order to provide sound basis for this CRP, an FAO/IAEA Consultants Meeting was held in August 1997 in Vienna, at which the tanniniferous plants to be studied, the analytical methods, the test animals and the animal response evaluation techniques were defined. This publication contains methodologies for the analysis of tannins using chemical-, protein precipitation/binding- and bio-assays recommended by the consultants