KENYA STANDARD     DKS 2710 : 2016  
               
   
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
Prosopis Meal  for Compounding animal 
Feeds — Specification  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT      First Edition 2016 
 
 
  
 
 DKS 2710 : 2016  
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved ii 
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION 
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:   
1. Ministry of Agriculture Livestock Fisheries — State Department of Livestock 
2. Kenyatta University—Department of animal science 3. Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) 
4. Unga Farm Care EA Ltd. 
5. Modern Ways Ltd. 
6. Consumer Information Network 7. Department of Veterinary Services 
8. AKEFEMA-Associat ion of Kenya Feed Manufacturers 
9. Government chemist department. 10. Pioneer Feeds Ltd 
11. Nutrimix (K) Ltd 
12. Pembe Flour Mills  13. Joeliz Bone meal Ltd. 
14. Proctor and Allan (EA) Ltd 
15. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute 16. Kenya Bureau of Standards ― Secretariat 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS 
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions 
for improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, 
are welcome. 
 
 
 
 
©Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2009 
  Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws 
of Kenya, copyright subsists in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 26 of this Act, no 
Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of Standards may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing from the Managing Director. DKS 2710 : 2016   
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved 
 iiiKENYA STANDARD                KS 2710: 2016 
ICS 65.120 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
Prosopis Meal  for Compounding animal 
Feeds — Specification  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS) 
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi-00200, Tel.: (+254 020) 605490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020) 604031 
E-Mail: info@kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org  
 
 
Coast Region    Lake Region         Rift Valley Region  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa-80100  P.O. Box 2 949, Kisumu-40100       P.O. Box 2138, 
Nakuru-20100 
Tel.: (+254 041) 229563, 230939/40               Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 22396       Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 
210555 
Fax: (+254 041) 229448   Fax: (+254 057) 21814 
 DKS 2710 : 2016  
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved iv  
 
 
FOR  EW O R D   
 
This Kenya Standard was prepared by the Animal Feeds Technical Committee under the guidance of the 
Standards Project Committee and it is in accordance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of Standards. 
Prosopis juliflora , commonly known as ‘ mathenge’  was first introduced and widely planted in Kenya to 
rehabilitate degraded lands and combat desertification in the ASAL regions in 1970s and 1980s. The plant 
has been used by communities in these areas for animal feeding over the years without established quality 
and safety measures. Furthermore, the fast spread of the plant has been seen as a rising concern. Therefore, sustainable management and utilization of the plant as a raw material in feed manufacturing is 
needed.  
Competition for limited cereals between man and livest ock has been a challenge,  a scenario that makes it 
critical to find alternative sources of non-cereal raw materials. Prosopis potentially offers outstanding opportunities in this regard. Concerted efforts are th erefore required to fill the knowledge gaps in order to 
make Prosopis a popular choice as a sustainable resource and to take full advantage of its fast spread and 
wide distribution. The standard will assist processors and feed manufac turers to exercise proper quality control during 
production and ensure safety of the final product.  
During the development of this draft, reference was made to the following key materials.  
En, S. A. E. H. S., Im, M. Q. A S., Abideen, Z., Rizvi, R. F., Gul, B., Ari, R. A. N. S., & Khan, M. A. (2016). 
Secondary Metabolites as Anti-nutritional Factors in Locally Used Halophytic Forage / Fodder, 48(2), 
629–636. 
 Kingo'ri A. M., Odero-Waitituh J. A., Guliye A. Y., Mathenge (Prosopis juliflora): An Underutilized Livestock 
Feed Resource in Kenya,- A review. Research Journal of Animal Sciences 5 (4-6): 43-51 2011 
 
Sawal, R. K., Ratan, R., & Yadav, S. B. S. (2004). Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) pods as a feed resource for 
livestock - A review. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences , 17(5), 719–725.  
 
The assistance derived from them is hereby acknowledged.DKS 2710 : 2016  
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved          1 
  
KENYA STANDARD        
 
 
1 Scope 
This Kenya Standard prescribes requirements for Prosopis  juliflora  meal for use as an ingredient for 
compounding animal feeds. 
2. Normative references 
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies 
 
(i) KS 2543:2014  The animal feed industry - Code of practice (ii) KS 63- Methods of test for animal feedstuffs 
 
 3 Definitions 
For the purpose of this standard, the following definitions shall apply: 
3.1 Prosopis juliflora 
Prosopis juliflora  (commonly referred to as ‘ Mathenge’, ‘Mrashe’ or ‘Iterai’ )is an evergreen leguminous tree 
growing to 15 meters high, often multi-stemmed, thorny  and highly tolerant to drought, heat, salinity, adverse 
growing conditions and adapts to almost all types of soil and widely varying climatic conditions.   
3.2 Prosopis meal 
 Milled whole pods or seeds   
3.3 Prosopis whole pod    
Ripe fruit of the Prosopis juliflora  plant  
3.4 Prosopis seed 
Bean contained in the pod 
3.5 Anti-nutritional factors  
Toxic substances in the diet of animals which negatively influence the health by disturbing normal 
physiological functions such as tannins, saponins and phenols. 
3.6 Toxins 
Substances produced by micro- organisms, animals, an d plants that have the capability of causing harmful 
effects when inhaled, ingested, injected or absorbed. 
 
4 Requirements 4.1 General requirements 4.1.1 Appearance  
a) The whole pod meal shall be  gold yellow in colour DKS 2710 : 2016  
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved 
 2b) The seed meal shall be  brown to light chocolate in colour 
4.1.2 Prosopis meal  shall be free from unpleasant or musty, stale, or any other objectionable odour.  
4.1.3 Prosopis meal shall be free from metallic ob jects, adulterants and insect infestation. 
4.1.4 Prosopis meal shall be free from rancidity and any other harmful constituents.  
 
4.2 Specific requirements 
Prosopis meal shall also conform to the requi rements prescribed in the following tables  
 
 
Table 1 — Requirements for Prosopis juliflora  whole pod meal  
 
 
S/N Characteristic Requirement Method of test 
1 Moisture (% Max.) 12.0 KS 63 
2 Crude Protein (% DM, Min.) 11.0 “ 
3 Metabolizable energy (MJ/kg DM, Min.) 12.0 “ 
4 Total digestible nutrients (% DM, Min.) 79.0 “ 
5 Crude fat (% DM, Max.) 4.0 “ 
6 Crude Fibre (% DM, Max.)  35.0 “ 
7 Neutral detergent fibre (% DM, Max.) 48.0 “ 
8 Acid detergent fibre (% DM, Max.) 33.0 “ 
9 Total ash (% DM, Max.) 6.0 “ 
10 Acid Insoluble Ash(% DM, Max) 6.0 ,, 
Methods of tests for animal feedstuffs    
 
 
Table 2 — Requirements for Prosopis juliflora  seed meal 
 
S/N Characteristic Requireme nt Method of test  
1 Moisture (%, Max.) 13.0 KS 63 
2 Crude Protein (% DM, Min.) 30.0 “ 
3 Metabolizable energy (MJ/ kg DM, Min.) 14.0 “ 
4 Total digestible nutrients (%, Min.) 92.5 “ 
5 Crude fat (% DM, Max.). 8.0 “ 
6 Crude Fibre (% DM, Max) 6.0 “ 
7 Total ash (% DM, Max.) 6.0 “ 
8 Acid Insoluble ash (% DM, Max.) 4.0  
 Methods of tests for animal feedstuffs  
 
   
 
  DKS 2710 : 2016  
©KEBS 2016 — All rights reserved  35. Tannins and Saponins  
Prosopis whole pod  meal and prosopis seed meal shall not have tannins and saponins above limits 
prescibed in Table 3. 
Table 3. Limits for Tannins and Saponins in Prosopis Meal on dry matter basis. 
Parameter Prosopis whole pod  meal  Prosopis Seed  meal  
 
Tannins (%Max)  2.0 2.0 
 
Saponins (%Max)  2.0 6.0 
 
 
 
6. Aflatoxins 
Prosopis meal shall not have total aflatoxins levels above 20 ppb. 
 
7. Packaging and Labelling  7.1 Packaging   
7.1.1 Prosopis meal shall be packed in air tight contai ners of sufficient strength and adequately sealed so 
as to withstand reasonable handling without tearing,  bursting or falling open during normal handling and 
transportation.   
7.1.2 The containers shall be clean and free from visible indications of contamination, and insect 
infestation.   
7.1.3 The containers shall be designed to preserve  and protect the product from contamination. 
7.2 Labeling The packages shall be securely closed and marked with the following information:  
a) Name of the product  
b) Name and physical address of manufacturer 
c) Net weight in Kilogrammes 
d) Batch number 
e) Date of manufacture and expiry 
f) Nutrient declaration for crude protein, metabolizable energy, crude fat, crude fibre g) Storage instructions 
 
 
 
8. Sampling For the purpose of determining compliance with this standards, samples of prosopis pods and seed meal 
shall be collected from the market or elsewhere and shall be required to comply with all the requirements 
of this standard.