No abstract

The study examined the vitamin and amino acid profiles of Unripe Gmelina Whole Fruit (UGWF), Ripe Gmelina Whole Fruit (RGWF) and Ripe Gmelina Fruit Pulp (RGFP). The combined riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, ascorbic acid, vitamins A and E of all the samples ranged from 0.09-0.30 mg/100g, 0.22-0.88 mg/100g, 0.12-0.64 mg/100g, 5.75-22.88 mg/100g, 4.60-13.60 IU/100g and 0.0-6.09 mg/100g, respectively. They were poor in all the vitamins except the vitamin E content of RGWF. The total essential amino acid (TEAA), percentage total non essential amino acid (%TEAA), total semi essential amino acid (TSEAA), percentage total semi essential amino acid (%TSEAA), total non essential amino acid (TNEAA) and percentage total non essential amino acid(%TNEAA) ranged from 13.

Haematology and histopathology of the liver and kidney of rats fed ripe gmelina fruit pulp (RGFP) were evaluated using iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric diets with 12% crude protein and 3800 kcal (ME)/kg. Diet I had maize as the sole energy source, while in diets II, III, IV and V RGFP replaced maize as energy source at 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels, respectively. Thirty male albino rats at 21±2 days of age were used for the 28 days study. The five groups were randomly allocated to the five diets on weight equalization basis. At the end of the trial, blood was collected from three rats per treatment for determination of the haematological parameters. Their liver and kidney tissues were examined. Experiments followed the completely randomized design; one-way analysis of variance format. Significant (p<0.05) means were separated using the least significant difference. The mean cell haemoglobin count, lymphocytes, packed cell volume, white blood cells, monocytes, eosinophils, platelets and haemoglobin values of the rats ranged from 0.33-0.33ml%, 58.25-32.60%, 49.93-48.75 ml%, 6.65-5.75×109, 3.0-2.50%, 2.83-2.60%, 286.73-286.00×103/ml, 11.99-11.65g%, respectively. RGFP had no deleterious effect (p>0.05) on the haematological parameters. An examination of the kidney and liver tissues indicated abnormal cells from the 50% replacement level. It is concluded that RGFP may not replace more than 25% of maize in monogastric dietsKeywords: Hepatocytes, kidney, gmelina, fruit pulp, blood indices

Biochemical indices and nutrient digestibility of rats fed ripe gmelina fruit pulp (RGFP) were assessed. Thirty albino rats were equally shared into five groups and fed five diets for the growth and digestibility trials. Maize was the sole energy source of diet I. RGFP replaced 25, 50, 75 and 100% of maize in diets II, III, IV and V, respectively. Group fecal output was used for proximate analysis to calculate digestibility coefficients. The experimental design used was the Completely Randomized Design, One-way Analysis of Variance while significant (p<0.05) means were