Production and Evaluation of Okara Based Pet Foods for Dogs

Abstract

Incorporating okara, a perishable by-product of soymilk preparation into dog food will not only add value to the seemingly useless by-product but reduce environmental pollution from soymilk producing industry. Freshly produced okara was steam heated under pressure (15 psi) for 15 minutes, then cooled to room temperature and used to formulate two pilot dog foods which were supplemented with fish (A) and meat (B) meals respectively. Proximate compositions of the foods were carried out following the standard methods and eight dogs of four different breeds (Rottweiler, Doberman pinscher, Bullmastiff, andKingsrot) were randomly selected from dog keepers and used for acceptability and hedonic scoring of the pilot foods. Dog food A was higher in crude protein and moisture content, while Food B had higher fibre, ether extract, ash content and nitrogen free axtract values. All the dogs accepted the foods at first presentation and degree of likeness was very good except for the Doberman breed, while diarrhoeic reaction was noticed only among the Bullmastiff. Therefore, okara has a good potential for incorporation into dog foods.