The use of ensiled cassava leaves in diets for growing pigs. 2. The influence of type of palm oil and cassava leaf maturity on digestibility and N balance for growing pigs

摘要

nbsp;FourMongCaixLargeWhitecastratemalepigsofmeaninitialweightnbsp;20.7kgwereallocatedatrandomintofourtreatmentsaccordingtoa4x4Latinsquarearrangementtostudytheinfluenceondigestibilityindicesofcrudeorrefinedpalm(Elaeisguineensis)oilandthematurityofcassavaleavespriortoensiling.Thesilagewasmadefromsun-dried,wilted,cassavaleavesharvestedafter4.5to5monthsofgrowth(fromfarmers’fields,managedforrootproduction)andfromyoungcassavaleaves,whichwereharvestedafter2monthsofregrowth(fromtheUTAecologicalfarm).Meanenvironmentaltemperaturewas30oCatmidday(12:00)duringthetrialfrom28Julyto3September2002.nbsp;ThecharacteristicsofthesilageswerepH3.93,4.00;DM38.5,34.2;NDF25.4and23.5;CP24.5,23.6indrybasis,foryoungandoldleaves,respectively.Thecyanidecontentofthesilagewas200and97.2mg/kgDMforyoungandoldcassavaleafsilage,respectively.Feedintakewasonaverage44.3and41.7gDM/kgbodyweightforyoungandoldcassavaleafsilage,respectivelyand44.7and41.1gDM/kgbodyweightforrefinedandcrudepalmoil,respectively.Therewasnosignificantinteraction(P0.05)amonganyfactorsfordigestibilityindicesbetweenthematurityofthecassavaleavesandtypeofpalmoil.DigestibilitywashigherforyoungversusoldcassavaleavesforDM(P0.001),organicmatter(P0.001),crudefibrenbsp;(P0.05),NDF(P=0.07),etherextract(P0.05),NFE(P0.05)andenergy(P0.05).Nbalanceindicesalsoappearedtofavoursilagefromyoungcassavaleavescomparedtooldleaves.TherewasnosignificanteffectoftypeofpalmoilonnutrientdigestibilityorNbalanceindices.nbsp;Itissuggestedthatthenutritivevalueforpigsofensiledcassavaleavescanbeimprovedifyounginsteadofoldleavesareusedforensiling.Crudepalmoilcouldbeusedinthoseplaceswhereitisavailableinsteadofrefinedpalmoil,thusavoidingtheextracostofrefiningtheproduct.nbsp;