Comparative utilization of Centrosema pubescens or Mucuna purensis as a substitute for pawpaw leaf by growing snails

摘要

Theeffectoffeedinggrowingsnails(Archachatinamarginata)onCentrosemapubescensorMucunapurensisasasubstituteforpawpawleafongrowthandcarcassanalysiswerecarriedout.Ninety-six(96)growingsnailswereusedforthetrial.Thesnailswererandomlyallottedinto3differentgroups(G1#8211;G3).Eachgroupwasreplicatedfourtimeswith8snailsperreplicateinacompletelyrandomizeddesign.ThesnailsinGroup1nbsp;werefedpawpawleaves(PL)whilesnailsinGroup2andGroup3werefedMucunapurensis(MP)andCentrosemapubescens(CP)solelyrespectively.Parametersmeasuredorcalculatedincludeweightgain,feedintake,feedconversionratioanddressingpercentage.Theresultsshowedthatthehighesttotalfeedintakeof665gwasobtainedinnbsp;nbsp;snailsfedCPwhilesignificantdifferenceswerenotobservedinthesnailsfedPLandMP.Thehighestweightgainof147gwasrecordedinsnailsfedCPwhichwassignificantlyhigherthanthosesnailfedPLandMP(P0.05).Themeanshelllength,shellthicknessandwidthincrementswerenotsignificantlyinfluencedbythetreatmenteffect(P0.05)nbsp;nbsp;Thedressingpercentagewasrelativelysimilarinallthetreatments,thevaluesrangebetween39.5and40.5%(P0.05).CentrosemapubescensandMucunapurensiscomparedfavourablywiththecontrolfeed(pawpawleaf)henceanyofthetwoleguminousplantscouldbegiventosnailsforfeedoruseasalternativefeedresourceforsnail.