Nutritional Biochemistry Division, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2023 Sep 28;55(5):332. doi: 10.1007/s11250-023-03730-0.
This experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of growing rabbits fed diets containing pawpaw (Carica papaya L.) leaf protein concentrate as partial replacement for soybean meal (SBM). Five dietary treatments were formulated such that SBM was replaced with pawpaw leaf protein concentrate (PLPC) at 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60% weight-for-weight. Twenty-five composite growing rabbits of mixed sex and approximately seven weeks of age (736±90 g) were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments of five replicates in a completely randomized design. The rabbits had access to water and the experimental feed ad libitum for 12 weeks of feeding trial after one week of adaptation. Results showed that the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of rabbits recorded in this experiment were not significantly affected (p>0.05) by the replacement of SBM with PLPC, indicating that PLPC can be used to replace soybean meal up to 60% weight-for-weight without causing any adverse effect on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of rabbits. The average water-to-feed ratio was 2.54, indicating that rabbit under this condition of experiment requires an average of 2.54 mL of water for every 1 g of feed consumed. The flesh-to-bone ratio of rabbits recorded in this study was between 3.06±0.36 and 3.22±0.22. Rabbits on diets in which 60% SBM was replaced with PLPC resulted in the highest savings in terms of cost differential (₦90.94/kg); therefore, it is cheaper for farmers to replace SBM with PLPC at 60% weight-for-weight in rabbit feeding in Nigeria.
本试验旨在评估饲粮中用木瓜叶蛋白浓缩物（Carica papaya L.）替代部分豆粕（SBM）对生长兔生长性能和养分消化率的影响。试验设计了 5 种饲粮处理，分别用 0、15、30、45 和 60%的木瓜叶蛋白浓缩物替代豆粕。选用 25 只混合性别、约 7 周龄（736±90 g）的复合生长兔，采用完全随机设计，每个处理 5 个重复，每个重复 5 只兔。试验兔在适应期 1 周后，自由采食和饮水，进行为期 12 周的饲养试验。结果表明，用木瓜叶蛋白浓缩物替代豆粕对生长兔的生长性能和养分消化率没有显著影响（p>0.05），说明在不影响生长性能和养分消化率的情况下，木瓜叶蛋白浓缩物可替代 60%的豆粕。试验兔的平均水料比为 2.54，表明在本试验条件下，试验兔每消耗 1 g 饲料需要 2.54 mL 的水。本研究中记录的兔体肉骨比在 3.06±0.36 和 3.22±0.22 之间。用 60%的豆粕替代饲粮中的 PLPC 可使成本差异最大（₦90.94/kg），因此，在尼日利亚的兔饲料中，用 60%的木瓜叶蛋白浓缩物替代豆粕更便宜。
