title: Nutritional Composition of Fruits Selected by Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia.
abstract: Proximate analysis of twelve species of fruits commonly consumed by long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), i.e.,Arenga pinnata,Areca catechu,Terminalia catappa,Elaeis guineensis,Lagerstroemia tomentosa,Mangifera indica,Cascabela thevetia,Muntingia calabura,Musasp.,Artocarpus heterophyllus,Ficus tinctoriassp.gibbosaandFicus microcarpa, was conducted with the specific objective to determine the nutritional composition of the foodstuffs of long-tailed macaques. The results showed the following order of nutrients: fibre, protein, fat and ash. Based on the results of the chemical analysis, the highest percentage of fibre content (52.7%), protein (9.9%), fat (77.2%) and ash (8.5%) were found inA. catechu,T. catappa,E. guineensisandC. thevetia, respectively. The nutrient composition of these twelve fruit species was found to differ (ANOVA test: crude protein, F (11,24) = 87.978,p< 0.05; crude fibre, F (11,24) = 28.886,p< 0.05; crude fat, F (11,24) = 2081.396,p< 0.05 and ash, F (11,24) = 41.011,p< 0.05). Fibre was found in the highest amount among the four types of nutrients studied. Here,A. catechuhad the highest relative fibre content of all tested fruits,E. guineensishad the highest fat content,T. catappahad the highest protein content, and the total mineral content was highest inC. thevetia.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Locked Bag No. 100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norazila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kassim
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Locked Bag No. 100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kamarul
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hambali
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Earth Science, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Locked Bag No. 100, 17600 Jeli, Kelantan, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Aainaa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amir
keywords: Fruits; Long-Tailed Macaque; Nutrition; Proximate Analysis