Nutritional composition of fruits selected by long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in Kuala Selangor, Malaysia

Proximate analysis of twelve species of fruits commonly consumed by longtailed
macaques (Macaca fascicularis), i.e., Arenga pinnata, Areca catechu, Terminalia
catappa, Elaeis guineensis, Lagerstroemia tomentosa, Mangifera indica, Cascabela
thevetia, Muntingia calabura, Musa sp., Artocarpus heterophyllus, Ficus tinctoria ssp.
gibbosa and Ficus 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 in A. catechu, T. catappa, E. guineensis and C. 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.
catechu had the highest relative fibre content of all tested fruits, E. guineensis had the
highest fat content, T. catappa had the highest protein content, and the total mineral
content was highest in C. thevetia