Nutritional Potentials and In Vitro Estimation of Composite Cocoa Pod Husk Based Diets for Ruminants

Résumé

The use of cocoa pod husk in livestock nutrition is being limited because of its fibrous nature and anti-nutrients, which have detrimental effect(s) on the animals. This study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value and effects of replacing urea-treated ensiled cocoa pod husk meal(UTCPHM) with cassava peel in a complete concentrate diet (CCD)on in vitro digestibility and methane (CH4) production. UTCPHM was prepared by soaking the raw milled pod in 5% urea solution under anaerobic condition for 7 days, decanted and the filtrates were further ensiled for 28 days, dried; and were incorporated in CCD at 0, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30% on part basis. Feed samples were analyzed for chemical composition and data generated from in vitro study were subjected to statistical analysis in a completely randomized design experiment. Results revealed that; the treatment significantly reduced the crude fibre, fibre fraction contents, anti-nutrients and improved the CP content of the pod by 71.84%. DM and CP of the diets ranged from (89.34 – 89.71%) and (10.52 – 12.84%) respectively. The in vitro dry matter digestibility(IVDMD) increased with increasing levels of UTCPHM in the diets. With increasing levels of UTCPHM, CH4production relatively reduced as compared to diet E. Metabolizable energy (5.66 Kcal/g) of diet F was the highest. Therefore, inclusion of UTCPHM at 30% in CCDs has the potential for improving digestibility and reducing CH4production in ruminants.