Response of New Zealand Rabbits to Diet Containing Guava Waste (Psidium Guaijava L.): 1. Effect on Growth Performance, Diet Digestibility and Economic Efficiency

Abstract

Forty eight New Zealand White weaned male rabbits (28 d of age) were classified into 4 groups (12/group). Four isonitrogenous, iso-energetic and isofibrous diets were formulated. The control diet was based on corn, soybean and straw. Guava waste (GW) was collected, dried and crushed as meal, then chemically analyzed. Three diets (D1, D2 and D3) were prepared to contain 20% dried GW meal. Diets D2 and D3 were supplemented by 1% of either a blend of organic acids or Mannan oligosaccharide (MOS), respectively. Diets and water were offered ad-libitum to rabbits and feed intake was recorded daily. Body weight change was recorded weekly and. Digestibility trial was carried out at 46 d of age by fecal collection for 4 successive days and followed by feed and feces analysis. The digestion coefficients were calculated for organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and non fiber carbohydrate (NFC). At 98 d of age, blood samples were collected after slaughter for hematology and carcass dressing measurements. Results revealed that GW was rich in crude fiber but its inclusion in the diet improved significantly (P<0.05) OM and nutrients digestibility, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and performance index (PI) of rabbits fed diets D1, D2 and D3 when compared with the control group. Organic acids and MOS supplementation to diets D2 and D3 improved the efficiency of feed digestibility and growth. Results of blood and carcass traits showed no adverse effect of GW inclusion in the diet of rabbits. Economically, inclusion of GW either alone in the diet or with MOS supplementation was the most profitable when compared with other diets. In conclusion, GW can be satisfactory added to diets of growing rabbits without negative effect on growth, digestibility, health and carcass characteristics , and economizes feed costs and preserves the environment by reduction of pollution caused by its processing and manufacturing.

Current Status of Guava (Psidium Guajava L) Production, Utilization, Processing and Preservation in Kenya: A Review

“…The use of guava wastes as rabbit feed or inclusion in their diets has been found to economize on the costs of feed and positively enhances the growth and health of rabbits with minimal interference in their digestion and the carcass quality. 109 Therefore guava wastes could be processed into commercial products and thus help reduce the pollution from dumping the wastes.…”

Impact of Orally Quaffed Antioxidant on Growth, Carcass Quality, Digestibility, and Hemo-Biochemical Parameters, and Economic Efficiency of Black Balady Rabbits

“…Similarly, with the current findings Abd-El-Moniem et al (2016) indicated that dietary vitamin E improved nutrients digestibility of rabbits as OM, DM, CP, EE, CF and NFE compared to those in the control group. This may be attributed to that dietary vitamins improved ADC of different nutrients by decreasing competition of gut flora of rabbit, and endogenous nitrogen losses with lowering ammonia production and stimulation of gastrointestinal cells proliferation (Kamel et al, 2016), besides increase the surface area of villi, which led to improve nutrients absorption by villi, and microbial protein synthesis (El-Sanhoury, 2018). In the present study, the advantage of digestibility in T2 rabbits is related to that vitamin E, which led to improve the digestibility via its antioxidant property as recently noticed by Abdel Dayem et al (2020).…”