| Livestock Research for Rural Development 31 (8) 2019 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD Newsletter | Citation of this paper |
The four-weeks-old unsexed Ahbor Acre broiler chickens (n=200) at finishing stage were used to investigate replacement of soybean meal protein with protein from Moringa leaf meal at levels of 0, 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50%. The birds were allotted to the 5 dietary treatments with 4 replicates each of 10 birds in a randomized design. The feeding trial lasted for 4 weeks with feed and water provided ad-libitum.
Growth rates and feed conversion were not affected by up to 25% replacement of soybean protein by Moringa protein but deteriorated with curvilinear trends when Moringa leaf protein replaced more than 25% of the soybean protein.
Keywords: botanical, feed conversion, growth, trees
Recent research trends have been directed towards investigating novel and alternative plant protein sources available in the rural communities to replace conventional soybean, groundnut and cowpea (Imoru and Abu 2014). These conventional plant protein sources are associated with high cost of purchase and competitive demand as food for people. An interesting alternative is leaf protein from the leaves of Moringa oleifera known as the drumstick tree because of the shape of its pods, or `horseradish tree, describing the taste of its roots (Makkar and Becker 1997; Mbikay 2012). The leaves of Moringa oleifera are reported to contain a profile of important nutrients such as sulfur-containing amino acids, vitamin C, β-carotene, minerals and various phenolic compounds (Bennett et al 2003; Ferreira et al 2008; Moyo et al 2011).
The current research was aimed at determining the extent to which moringa leaf meal could replace expensive-protein-rich feed ingredients such as soybean meal in the diets of broiler chickens.
Fresh, young leaves of moringa (Photo 1) were harvested from trees in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria and air-dried in a well-ventilated shed with no access to sunlight.
|
| Photo 1. Moringa oleifera tree from Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria |
After five days of air drying, the leaves were ground to pass through a 0.15mm sieve and stored in polythene bags at room temperature.
Diets were formulated in which Moringa leaf meal replaced soybean meal on an equal protein basis of 0, 12.5, 25, 37.5 and 50% (Table 1).
Two hundred and fifty, day-old Ahbor Acre strain of broiler chicks were purchased in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria. There was a four-week, pre-experimental period during which the birds were fed a 23% CP starter diet. Thereafter, two hundred birds were randomly distributed to five experimental treatments. Each treatment was replicated four times with10 birds per replicate. Feeds and water were supplied ad libitum throughout the feeding trial which lasted for 4 weeks. Proximate analysis of the diets was done following AOAC (1994) methods.
|
Table 1. Percent composition of experimental diets |
|||||
|
Moringa leaf meal replacing soybean meal, % as protein |
|||||
|
0 |
12.5 |
25 |
37.5 |
50 |
|
|
Maize |
53 |
53 |
53 |
53 |
53 |
|
Maize offal |
8 |
7.64 |
7.58 |
7.48 |
7.38 |
|
Groundnut cake |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
|
Soybean meal |
16 |
14 |
12 |
10 |
8 |
|
Palm kernel cake |
7 |
6 |
4.7 |
3.44 |
2.18 |
|
Moringa leaf meal |
0 |
3.36 |
6.72 |
10.1 |
13.4 |
|
Bone meal |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
|
Limestone |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
|
Premix |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
|
Methionine |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
0.25 |
|
Salt |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
0.4 |
|
Composition of premix per kg of feed: Vitamin A (E-672) = 4 800 000 IU, Vitamin D3 =1 200 000 IU, Vitamin E = 6 000 mg,Vitamin K3 =1 200mg, Vitamin B1=400 mg, Vitamin B2=2 000 mg, Vitamin B6=1 200 mg, Vitamin B12=8 mg, Folic acid=400 mg, Niacine=12 000 mg, Panthotenic acid=2 800 mg, Choline chloride =240 000 mg , Iron (E-1) (Ferrous =10 000 mg, Iodine =120 mg, Cobalt = 80 mg, Copper=2 400 mg, Manganese = 40 000 mg, Zinc =20 000 mg, Selenium =50 mg, dl-Methionine=80 000 mg, Ethoxyquin (antioxidant = 40 000 mg, Biotin=28 mg and Carrier ad=1 000 g |
|||||
The ash and crude fiber in the diet increased slightly as the level of Moringa leaf meal was increased (Table 2).
|
Table 2. Proximate composition (% in DM) experimental diets |
|||||
|
Moringa leaf meal replacing soybean meal, % as protein |
|||||
|
0 |
12.5 |
25 |
37.5 |
50 |
|
|
Crude protein, % |
19.21 |
19.2 |
19.11 |
19.01 |
18.99 |
|
Ash, % |
8.11 |
9.46 |
11.06 |
12.12 |
12.01 |
|
Crude fiber, % |
4.05 |
4.95 |
4.94 |
5.87 |
6.15 |
|
Ether extract, % |
3.55 |
2.96 |
3.03 |
2.91 |
2.71 |
|
Nitrogen free extract, % |
55.5 |
54.0 |
52.5 |
50.6 |
50.1 |
Feed intake showed no consistent trend among diets (Table 3). In contrast, growth rate and feed conversion, although unchanged with up to 25% substitution of soybean protein by protein from Moringa leaf, at higher concentrations of Moringa leaf protein, performance declined with a curvilinear trend (Figures 1 and 2).
|
Table 3. Performance characteristics of broilers fed Moringa leaf meal replacing soybean meal |
|||||||
|
Moringa leaf meal replacing soybean meal, % as protein |
SEM |
p |
|||||
|
0 |
12.5 |
25 |
37.5 |
50 |
|||
|
Initial weight, g |
890 |
885 |
885 |
893 |
885 |
7.69 |
0.31 |
|
Final weight, g |
2390a |
2410a |
2391a |
2210b |
2088c |
9.45 |
p.04 |
|
Weight gain, g/d |
53.6a |
54.5a |
53.4a |
47.1b |
42.8c |
4.22 |
0.01 |
|
Feed intake, g/d |
131a |
126b |
124b |
135a |
129a |
3.74 |
0.02 |
|
Feed conversion |
2.44 |
2.31 |
2.33 |
2.86 |
3.02 |
0.21 |
0.18 |
|
abc Means along the same row without common superscript differ at p>0.05 |
|||||||
 |
| Figure 1. Effect of substituting soybean protein by Moringa leaf protein on growth rate of broilers |
 |
| Figure 2. Effect of substituting soybean protein by Moringa leaf protein on feed conversion of broilers |
Reports in the literature on Moringa leaf meal in broiler diets are variable. Nkukwana (2012) reported superior body weight gain for broilers fed 3 and 5% Moringa leaf meal in the diet. In our research the 25% optimum substitution level of Moringa protein for soybean was equivalent to 7% of Moringa leaf meal in the diet DM. By contrast, the reports of Olugbemi et al (2010), Junair et al (2000) and Gadzirayi et al (2012) reported no difference in the performance of broilers fed Moringa leaf meal at up to 25% of the diet.
The authors express their gratitude to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Nigeria and Centre for Research and Development, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria for supporting this research.
AOAC 1994 Association of Official Analytical Chemists.Official methods of analysis (16th edition), Washington DC.
Bennett R N, Mellon F A, Foidl N, Pratt J H, Dupont M S, Perkins L and Kroon P A 2003 Profiling glucosinolates and phenolics in vegetative and reproductive tissues of the multi-purpose trees Moringa oleifera L. (horseradishtree) and Moringa stenopetala L. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 51: 3546 – 3553.
Ferreira P M P, Farias D P, Oliveira J T and Carvalho F U 2008 Moringa oleifera:bioactive compounds and nutritional potential. Review Nutrition Campinas 21, 431- 437.
Gadzirayi C T, Masam ha, B, Mupangwa J F and Washaya S 2012 Performance of broiler chickens fed on mature Moringa oleifera leaf meal as a protein supplement to soyabean meal. International Journal of Poultry Science, 11 (1): 5-10
Imoru A and Abu O A 2014 Nutritional evaluation of under- utilized seeds of uncommon legumes: A review. Proceeding of the Annual National Conference of the Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists held at The Federal University of Technology, Akure Nigeria. 24th – 27th February, 2014: 23-27.
Juniar I, Widodo E and Sjofjan O 2000 Effect of Moringa oleifera leaf meal on broiler production performance. Journal Ilmu-ilmuPeternakanBrawijaya. 18: 238-242.
Makkar H P S and Becker K 1997 Nutrients and anti-quality factors in different morphological parts of the Moringa oleifera tree.Journal of Agricultural Science 128 (3): 311 – 322.
Mbikay M 2012 Therapeutic potential of Moringa oleifera leaves in chronic hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia: A Review. Frontiers in Pharmacology 3, 1–12.
Moyo B, Masika P J, Hugo A and Muchenje V 2011 Nutritional characterization of moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) African Journal of Biotechnology. 10 (60): 12925– 12933.
Nkukwana T T 2012 The effect of moringa oleifera leaf meal on growth performance, gut integrity, bone strength, quality and oxidative stability of meat from broiler chickens. A PhD thesis, Department of Livestock and pasture science, University of Fort Hare, Alice South Africa
Olugbemi T S, Mutayoba S K and Lekule F P 2010 Effect of Moringa oleifera Inclusion in Cassava Based Diets Fed to Broiler Chickens. International Journal of Poultry Science 9: 363–367.
Received 19 June 2019; Accepted 1 July 2019; Published 1 August 2019