Growth, liver composition, and calcium balance of rats fed sorghum supplemented with two levels of beans.

A 35-day experimental study consisting of 28-day growth and 7-day calcium (CA) balance periods was conducted to assess the effects of fibre and N ratios on growth and Ca balance of rats. Growth and Ca balance of rats (45 80 g) fed mixtures of cooked (CS) and uncooked (RS) sorghum and dehulled (DB) and undehulled (UB) bean were studied. The diets contained 10% protein. Casein served as the control protein. The control group ate more food except for the group fed the CS:DU (60:40) diets (P less than 0.05) had higher values for all parameters tested than the test groups. There were increases in food and Ca intakes, fecal Ca, weight gain, protein efficiency ration (PER), liver weight and composition except for the low moisture value for the CS:DS (60:40) group when N ratios were changed from 80:20 to 60:40. These results appear to indicate that fiber and N ratio had significant effects on growth liver composition and calcium balance of the rats.