Effects of partial dietary substitution of groundnut meal by defatted, Aspergillus niger–fermented and heated Jatropha curcas kernel meal on feed intake and growth performance of broiler chicks

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine intake and growth performance of broiler chicks fed with Jatropha curcas kernel meal physico-chemically and biologically processed. The feed experiment lasted for 7 days with 20-day-old Ross 308 strain unsexed broiler chicks. Two dietary treatments were given each to ten animals, according to a complete randomized design. Kernels, manually obtained from J. curcas seed, were defatted, heated, and fermented with a strain of Aspergillus niger and oven-dried, in order to obtain the treated jatropha kernel meal. This latter was used to replace one third of a groundnut meal premix which was then incorporated in a commercial diet to warrant iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric characteristics of the diets. Data collected were analyzed according to ANOVA procedure. The results revealed that the animals that received the diet incorporating jatropha kernel meal had numerically higher live weight (156.1 vs. 152.7 g/animal) (P > 0.05) and average daily weight gain (12.3 vs. 11.7 g/day/animal) (P > 0.05) than the control ones, at the end of experiment. The average daily feed intake was the same for the two groups of animals (23.2 g/day/animal) (P > 0.05) with a similar feed conversion ratio (2.0 vs. 2.1 respectively for the jatropha group and the control group). The survival rate, at the end of the experiment, was 100% for the two groups of animals. Physicochemically and biologically processed Jatropha curcas kernel could be an interesting by-product for poultry feeding.

Detoxification Methods of Jatropha curcas Seed Cake and Its Potential Utilization as Animal Feed

“…The data reported by these authors suggest that animals were adversely affected with the inclusion of treated JSC due to the negative effects on animals' performance as well as due to the high mortality levels. In contrast, Nesseim et al [97] evaluated intake and growth performance of broiler chicks subjected to diets including up to 8% of JSC treated with A. niger, and observed no differences within the measured parameters, and even positive effects were detected in animals fed the treated JSC, for which the average daily weight gain and live weight were higher. It should be pointed that no data on phorbol ester concentration were presented.…”

“…These inclusion levels led to a reduction in supplement intake, total-tract digestibility of nutrients, and the performance of the dairy cows. Nesseim et al [88] employed a method of chemical extraction using petroleum ether to obtain JSC. The inclusion of the cake at 4 and 8% levels in broiler diets reduced animal performance parameters such as average daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio and the overall mortality rate showed an increase according to the levels of JSC in the diets.…”