Economy of Production and Carcass quality of Rabbits Fed African Loust Bean ( Parkia biglobosa) Fruit Pulp Based Diets

Abstract

Recent researches have shown that the African locust bean fruit pulp contains 6.56 % crude protein (CP), 11.75 % crude fibre (CF), 4.18 % ash, 1.80 % ether extract (EE), 67.30 % nitrogen free extracts (NFE), with a metabolizable energy value of 2420 Kcal/kg; and has the potential to replace maize in the diets of growing rabbits. A study was carried out to determine the effect of dietary inclusion of Parkia biglobosa fruit pulp (PBFP) on the economy of feed conversion, carcass characteristics and sensory properties of the meat of rabbits. A total of forty-five mixed sex and mixed breed (New Zealand White X California White) weaner rabbits of 5 to 6 weeks of age, with an average weight of about 700.00 ± 0.05 g, were used for the study. The rabbits were randomly allotted to five treatment diets, consisting of 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 % dietary inclusion levels of Parkia biglobosa fruit pulp (PBFP) in a completely randomized design model. Feeding trial lasted for 12 weeks, at the end of which 15 rabbits were randomly selected, one from each replicate, and slaughtered by severing their throats with a sharp knife and processed for their carcass characteristics. Thereafter, lean meat samples from the lumbar region were harvested and used for sensory evaluation. Results showed that live weight, dressing %, weight of neck, hind limbs, full intestine, liver, lungs, heart, spleen and skin (%) significantly (P<0.05) varied across the treatments. The dressing percentage of rabbits fed 20 % Parkia fruit pulp (58.92 %) was significantly (P<0.05) higher than 50.16, 48.92, 47.61 and 46.83 % in rabbits fed 0, 10, 30 and 40 % dietary inclusion level of PBFP, respectively. Also, there were significant (P<0.05) differences in the appearance and tenderness of the meat of rabbits, whereas juiciness, flavour and general acceptability did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference across the treatments. Higher overall scores of 8.20, 7.70, 7.50, 7.40 and 7.55 were recorded for meat from rabbits fed 20 % dietary inclusion level of PBFP for all the sensory parameters (appearance, tenderness, juiciness, flavour and general acceptability, respectively) monitored. Also, proportionate increase in the inclusion of PBFP in the diets of rabbits resulted in a relative decrease in the cost of production. It was therefore concluded that inclusion of PBFP in the diets of rabbits at 20 % level produced optimum effect on the economy of feed conversion, carcass characteristics and sensory properties of rabbit meat. .