Dairy cows and other ruminants depend heavily on forages as their feed. Because of their physical and chemical properties, they are the main source of fiber for ruminants, which has a substantial impact on the ruminal ecosystem and nutrient digestibility (Koakoski et al., 2024). The low productivity of livestock in most tropical countries, including Bangladesh, is due to feed shortages and non-availability of quality feed. In most tropical countries, the livestock feeding system is mostly based on crop residues with low nutritional status and poor digestibility (Babeker and Bdalbagi, 2015). Low-quality roughage such as rice straw, roadside grasses, and naturally grown grass in agricultural and fallow land is the most common source of roughage for livestock in Bangladesh. The major concentrate sources are agricultural products and the by-products of grains, cereals, legumes, etc. However, most of the grains and cereals are imported from foreign countries for human consumption, and there is increasing competition between humans and livestock for these feed ingredients as food. Additionally, the involvement of middlemen in this process ultimately increases the price, although availability is frequently unpredictable for these types of concentrates. As a result, concentrate feeds, especially protein sources, are always considered expensive for livestock in Bangladesh.

Furthermore, protein supplementation to balance other nutrients available in the feed addressing the animal’s requirements is essential to increasing livestock productivity (Babeker and Bdalbagi, 2015). The human and livestock populations are growing rapidly in Bangladesh, which propelled the increasing demand for food and feed. Therefore, it is indispensable to search for alternative feed resources, especially unconventional feeds, that may have valuable components in animal diets. According to Sultana et al. (2021), in many tropical and subtropical regions, the utilization of parts of a tree as alternative feed resources for ruminant livestock is considered important and also becoming popular. To produce environmentally and economically sustainable fodder and lower greenhouse gas emissions, scientists have worked hard to find ways to use agricultural by-products, tree leaves, and plant leaves to change the composition of feed and give sufficient nutrients. Because tree leaves often have a higher nutritional value than grasses and are more appealing to herbivores, using them as feed ingredients is a successful mitigating approach (Bryant et al., 2014).

Research indicates that moringa leaves are rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals, making them an excellent addition to animal diets (Sultana et al., 2021; Akintunde et al., 2024). Additionally, moringa has been found to positively influence the health and productivity of ruminants, with benefits including improved milk yield and better overall health (Su and Chen, 2020; Gafer et al., 2023). It also reduces methane emissions, making it a sustainable feed option (Amad and Zentek, 2023). Due to its exceptional nutritional value and potential positive aspects for livestock, moringa is gaining recognition as an effective feed supplement (Rizwan et al., 2022). As Moringa oleifera leaves are high in protein and minerals and produce much forage, they can be used to feed dairy cows during the dry season when there is a shortage of forage ( (Foidl et al., 2001; Pankajakshan and Arunima, 2020). Interestingly, every part of the M. oleifera plant, including the leaf, root, bark, seed, flower, and pod, is edible and contains compounds that are important for human and livestock wellness (Kadhim and AL-Shammaa, 2014). Research indicates that moringa can achieve significant biomass production under optimal conditions, with yields ranging from 10 to 20 tons per hectare annually, depending on factors such as soil quality, irrigation, and management practices (Huque et al., 2016; Ahmed et al., 2020). Moringa oleifera is noted for its high nutritional value, containing approximately 26% protein in dried leaves and essential vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (Akintunde et al., 2024). In Bangladesh, it contains 11%–34% protein, with its leaves having higher protein content than its pods, making them a valuable source of protein in the diet. Because of M. oleifera’s extensive nutritional, antioxidative, and medicinal qualities, researchers have been studying it more and more recently (Ndubuaku et al., 2015). The leaf of M. oleifera is rich in fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and crude protein (Rockwood and Anderson, 2013; Gopalakrishnan et al., 2016). Moringa oleifera is fed to livestock in different forms, such as dried moringa, mash, direct moringa leaves, and moringa silage with other fodder. The preservation of green forages through acidification is a natural process that occurs once these forages are ensiled. The main advantage of this conservation strategy for farmers is that it significantly shortens the time needed to harvest forage, particularly in situations where forced drying of the feed is impractical (Koakoski et al., 2024).

However, some information was gathered about sole moringa silage in livestock feeding systems. Moringa silage can enhance milk production and improve the nutritional quality of milk due to its rich protein and mineral content. Additionally, it has been observed that moringa silage can positively influence the overall feed intake and digestibility, leading to better growth rates in dairy cattle (Alarape et al., 2023). However, extensive research has not been done on diets consisting nearly solely of moringa silage for local dairy cows in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study was undertaken to examine the biomass yield, nutritional composition, preservation techniques of moringa, and the effect of moringa silage on the milk production and quality of local RCC.

The experiment was conducted to assess the biomass yield, nutritional composition, preservation techniques of M. oleifera, and the effect of M. oleifera silage on milk production and quality of local Red Chittagong cattle. Red Chittagong, also known as RCC, is a breed of cattle native to Bangladesh. Locally, the breed is known as Lal Birish. The breed has mainly originated in the Chittagong District of southern Bangladesh. Red Chittagong is similar in most ways to the native or local cattle, except that its coats, as well as tongue, eyebrow, eyeball, eyelash, horns, hooves, vulva, and tail switch, are also red. Red Chittagong cattle are reddish in color and small in size with mature bulls and cows weighing 330 to 350 and 180 to 220 kg from birth weights of 16 and 14 kg, respectively. The offered feed types were generally low in nutritional value, especially crude protein, but in spite of the low mean levels of milk production (618 L over a 228-day lactation), there were high levels of milk protein (3.8%) and fat (4.8%).

Moringa forage appears to be a promising feed for ruminant livestock with increases in feed efficiency, milk yield, and quality for lactating dairy cows. The current study’s results revealed that the highest biomass yield was observed in the Paraynal (11.24 ± 0.41 tons/ha/year) variety, which was in line with Fadiyimu et al. (2011), showing that the biomass yield on a fresh basis was 13.7 tons/ha. Basra et al. (2015), on the other hand, found that the fresh yield of moringa was 6.40 and 7.57 tons/ha/year in the first and second years, respectively. The annual fresh biomass yield of Black seed moringa local foliage (leaf+stem) was 120.88 tons/ha and White seed moringa local was 33.71 tons/ha (Ahmed et al., 2020). According to Kholif et al. (2016), M. oleifera produces a high biomass production of 43–115 t/ha yearly. There was a significant difference (P > 0.05) in biomass yield on a fresh basis in terms of stem, branch, and leaf. Bashar et al. (2017) showed that the highest fresh biomass yield of tops, stems, and leaves of moringa was 92.5, 63.9, and 28.5 tons/ha/year, respectively, at 40 cm harvesting height. According to Basra et al. (2015), the dry matter yield of moringa was 1.67 and 1.24 tons/ha/year in the first and second cuttings, respectively, which was similar to our findings ( Table 1 ). In contrast with this study, Sanchez and Inger (2006) found that moringa has successfully been grown as a field crop for biomass production and high dry matter yields of 4.2 to 8.3 tons/ha harvested every 40 days when planted at different spacing and cutting frequencies. Bashar et al. (2019) reported that the annual dry matter yield was higher on-farm (26.67 tons/ha) than on-station (22.7 tons/ha). Ahmed et al. (2020) showed that the dry biomass yield of Black seed moringa local for top, stem, and leaf was 24.70, 14.49, and 9.49 tons/ha/year and that of White seed moringa local was 7.43, 9.93, and 2.81 tons/ha/year. The annual dry matter yield of moringa pods, stems, and leaves was 19.5, 12.6, and 6.9 tons/ha, respectively, at 40 cm harvesting height (Bashar et al., 2017).

In the present study, we found significant variation among the different M. oleifera varieties for nutritional composition. Bashar et al. (2019) postulated that the DM content of moringa was 19.7% and 20.01%, respectively, on-station and on-farm. The moringa tops, stems, and leaves contain 19.70%, 19.37%, and 23.66% DM, respectively, at 40 cm harvesting height, which was similar to our research ( Table 2 ). In another study, Roy et al. (2016) found that the DM percentage of moringa foliage was 11.48%. In contrast with this study, Roy et al. (2016) showed that the ADF percentage of moringa was 34.27. The ADF content of moringa was 33.17% and 30.15% on-station and on-farm, respectively (Bashar et al., 2019). According to Bashar et al. (2017), the ADF content of moringa tops, stems, and leaves was 33.17%, 32.42%, and 4.55%, respectively, which was in the same trend as our research because here we considered the whole plant of M. oleifera. Mendieta-Araica et al. (2012) found the ADF content of moringa was 23.21%. The results resembled the work of Roy et al. (2016) who found that NDF was 55.27, which supported our findings. Another study conducted by Mendieta-Araica et al. (2012) showed that the NDF content of moringa was 32.94%. However, Bashar et al. (2017) found that the NDF of moringa tops, stems, and leaves was 51.79%, 55.12%, and 13.55%, respectively. Roy et al. (2016) found that the CP percentage was 18.62. The crude protein content of M. oleifera leaves ranges from 23.0% to 30.3% on a dry matter basis (Su and Chen, 2020). In another research, Mendieta-Araica et al. (2012) found that the CP content of moringa was 27.72%. The CP content of moringa was 21.68% and 20.66% on-station and on-farm, respectively (Bashar et al., 2019). Another study conducted by Bashar et al. (2017) showed that the CP content at 40 cm harvesting height of the tops, stems, and leaves of moringa was 18.89%, 8.86%, and 27.99%, respectively, which was similar to our research. Bashar et al. (2019) observed relatively lower ash content in moringa (5.09% on-station and 4.91% on-farm). The ash content of moringa tops, stems, and leaves was 5.09%, 3.66%, and 7.00%, respectively, when the harvesting height was 40 cm. Mendieta-Araica et al. (2012) showed the same results as our research, and they showed that the ash content of moringa was 10.26%.

The quickest and easiest method for determining the quality of silage is to measure its pH (Jianxin and Jun, 2002). The observed pH value of 4.07 was even lower than the range of 4.5 to 5.5 considered by Meneses et al. (2007) as acceptable for good silage ( Table 3 ). Kung and Shaver (2002) in their interpretation of silage analysis stated that good quality grass and legume silage pH values in the tropics range between 4.3 and 4.7. Earlier, Weissbach (1996) presented a critical pH limit for good silages depending on the dry matter content in which pH should be no higher than 0.025 × DM (expressed as a percentage) + 3.71. The nutritional composition of supplied feed was isonitrogenic, and Table 4 shows that the DM content of German grass is closest to Kanak et al. (2013), who reported that the DM content of German grass was 19.2% in the first cutting. Asaolu et al. (2015) showed that the DM content of moringa silage was 31.89% and another study (Buxton et al., 2003) reported that the DM range of 31.89% to 36.20% was an adequate range for silages, whereas we found 22.3%, which was nearest to our research.

In terms of feed and nutritional intake for the experimental animals, from Table 5 , we found that the total DM intake in the sole moringa silage-supplied group was 4.11 kg/day which was nearest to the findings of Bashar et al. (2020), who reported that the total DM intake from moringa feed and concentrate was 5.6 (kg/day) in BLRI cattle breed (BCB) 1. The present research trial we conducted with local RCC that were smaller in size than BCB cattle breed 1 is the reason why DM intake is lower than BCB 1. Bashar et al. (2020) also found an ME intake of 49.9 MJ/day in the moringa feeding group, which was higher compared to our finding of 43.04 MJ/day. Feed intake differences between studies were likely due to the body size and production performance of the animals. The milk composition was varied due to the high CP content in moringa silage. Table 6 shows the milk quality fat content of RCC-fed moringa silage (5.52%), which was greater than that of Bangladeshi native and Holstein crossbred cattle (3.7% and 3.4%, respectively; Islam et al., 2014). Also, RCC milk contained greater milk protein and lactose (3.43% and 5.07%, respectively; Table 6 ) compared to Holstein crossbreds (2.7% and 4.6%, respectively). Colmenero and Broderick (2006) reported that milk yield increased when diet CP content (in the range of less than 165 g/kg) increased. Therefore, the reduction in milk yield may be attributed to the low protein content in the cow feed. Several studies on the use of M. oleifera as a replacement feedstuff to advance the yield and quality of milk of livestock such as goats (Babeker and Bdalbagi, 2015), sheep (Babiker et al., 2016), and cows have been reported. In the study by Babiker et al. (2016), the replacement of alfalfa hay with 25% M. oleifera leaf powder in a formulated diet for goats and ewes showed that they had significantly higher milk yield, milk fat, milk lactose, and solid-non-fat compared to the diet formulated with 40% alfalfa hay inclusion level. In this study, moringa silage contains high protein and increases the milk production of the treatment group. Moringa oleifera silage reduced the cholesterol content in milk. Diets higher in PUFAs and SFAs are suggested by Hoffman and Wiklund (2006) to promote human health and prevent disease, which was similar to our study. In this research, we found that linoleic acid, linolenic acid, and arachidic acid were higher in the moringa silage-fed group compared to the control group which was in line with the findings of Wood et al. (2008), who recommended that increased consumption of α-linoleic acid (C18:3n-3) promotes the synthesis of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in humans and animals. There is little information on the effects of MO silage on the serum biochemical indexes of lactating cows. In the moringa silage group, LDL and TG were lower than in the control group, which was similar to the findings of Astuti et al. (2012) and Kholif et al. (2015). Jain et al. (2010) revealed that serum concentrations of TC, HDLC, and LDLC were markedly decreased in cows fed high moringa (HM) compared to those fed “no moringa” (NM). Jain et al. (2010) also observed that MO inhibits endogenous cholesterol biosynthesis by reducing the activity of HMG-CoA reductase. Moreover, phytochemicals and isothiocyanate present in MO may reduce cholesterol biosynthesis and absorption (Saxena et al., 2013; Waterman et al., 2015). Low serum concentrations of cholesterol and lipoprotein cholesterol were associated with reduced risk of retained afterbirth (Quiroz-Rocha et al., 2009) and fatty liver (Katoh, 2002) in dairy cows during the peripartum period.

The results from this study reveal that the highest biomass yield of total foliage on a fresh matter basis was observed in the Paraynal variety. In nutritional composition, the highest CP percentage was found in Black followed by Paraynal, PKM-1, and PKM-2. Dry matter intake and total metabolizable energy (MJ/kg) intake were higher in the sole moringa silage-supplied group compared to the control group. In terms of milk yield, milk production was increased by 14.5% in the moringa silage-supplied group. Sole moringa silage increases PUFAs, linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3), arachidonic acid (C20:0), and eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:1) and decreased SFA and MUFA in milk. Milk cholesterol was found to be lower in the sole moringa silage-supplemented group compared to the control. Sole moringa silage had more PUFAs than SFAs regardless of stage of maturity. Future research is needed to evaluate the beneficial effect of sole moringa silage on dairy and beef cattle production.