Prof Mary M Masafu

Block B, Room B-331
Florida Campus
Telephone: 011 471 2539
Fax: 011 471 2260
e-mail address: masafmm@unisa.ac.za

Qualifications:
BSc Agric (Range Management); MSc Agric (Pasture Science); PhD Environ Science (Agric)

Field of specialisation:
Forage Science, Ruminant Nutrition and Range Management.

Research interests: Forage value of multi-purpose plant species; ethno-botany/ethno-veterinary of indigenous plant species and methods; and the interaction between livestock and environment.

Projects:
The Rhizobium requirements of Sesbania sesban.
The effect of Browse Plus™ (Polyethylene Glycol-6000) on nutrient intake, rumen environment and passage of a sole diet of Leucaena Leucocephala forage.
Renewable protein supplements: the nature and extent of nitrogen and dry matter degradation in Leucaena leucocephala.
The impact of season, time of defoliation and dehydration on the concentration of mimosine in Leucaena leucocephala forage.
In-vitro and in-vivo propagation methods for endangered indigenous medicinal plant species that are used in Venda and Ndebele cultures in South Africa.

Publications:
Masafu, M.M. and Shelton, M.H. 1990. The Rhizobium requirement of Sesbania sesban: MSc. Dissertation in Pasture Science. Department of Agriculture, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

Masafu, M.M. and Linington, M.J. 2006. The evaluation of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) De Wit: A renewable protein supplement for low-quality forages. PhD Thesis: Department of Environmental Science. University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

Majuva-Masafu, M.M. and Linington, M.J. 2006. The effect of Browse Plus™ (Polyethylene Glycol-6000) on nutrient intake, rumen environment and passage of a sole diet of Leucaena Leucocephala forage. African Journal of Range & Forage Science. 23 (3): 171-175

Majuva-Masafu, M.M. and Linington, M.J. 2006. Renewable Protein Supplements: The nature and the extent of nitrogen and dry matter degradation in Leucaena leucocephala. African Journal of Range & Forage Science. 23 (3): 177-183

Masafu, MM and Linington, M.J. 2009.  The impact of season, time of defoliation and dehydration on the concentration of mimosine in Leucaena leucocephala forage. African Journal of Range and forage Science. 26 (1): 47-49

Masafu, MM and Linington, MJ. 2010.  The reliability of field test kits for the detection and the persistence of Synergistes jonesii bacteria in the rumens of sheep through winter drought in the Highveld of South Africa without Leucaena in the diet. African Journal of Range and forage Science. 27 (2): 101 -104