The experiment was conducted at the livestock teaching and research farm of Taraba State University Jalingo, using twenty (20) browse plants commonly found in Ardo-Kola, Jalingo and Lau local government of Taraba State, Nigeria. The browse plants were subjected to chemical composition and rumen degradability study at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours. Three grams (3g) of each sample in triplicate was transferred into nylon bags and incubated in the rumen of a fistulated bull weighing about 357kg. The highest and the least crude protein CP in the browse plants were obtained in Newbouldia laevis (28.13%) and Boswellia dalzelia (6.57%) respectively. The mean NDF, Lignin content of the browse species were 49.59%, 6.04% respectively while the mean values for DM, ASH, ADF and EE were 87.10%, 8.54%, 23.93% and 5.80% respectively. The mean tannin, saponin and alkaloid values were 0.18%, 2.00% and 0.04% respectively. The proximate composition of the browse species revealed that browse plants are rich in protein and moderate in lignin and NDF. Ficus platyphylla had highest (71.30%) percentage dry matter degradability at 48hours with 16%CP. All the browse plants revealed more than 50% degradation at 48 hours and have acceptable CP, NDF and Lignin values with tolerable tannins, saponins and alkaloid contents and as such are recommended for utilization in ruminant feeding.
