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India currently faces two constraints in the sector of forage production namely the widened gap between the demand and supply and the availability of inferior quality forage. Amongst these, the former can only boosted by a shift in the cropping systems adopted now and inclusion of more area under forage cultivation. But the latter, quality of the forage available, is largely determined by the presence of secondary metabolites even though they are byproducts of plant metabolism. There are nine important secondary metabolites namely tannins, saponins, cyanogenic glycosides, nitrates, mimosine, oxalates, phytates, protease inhibitors and alkaloids. Their toxic effects can be alleviated by adopting different methods, both easy and complex, which can be thus recommended to increase the quality of forage available in the country.

Key words: Secondary metabolites, Tannins, Saponins, Oxalates, Mimosine.