NUTRITIVE VALUE AND ECONOMIC BENEFIT OF BOILED VELVET BEANS (Mucuna utilis) IN RABBITS DIET

Abstract

Thirty weaned mixed breed (California, New Zealand, American Chinchilla and Dutch) rabbits weighing 313-330g were used in a study using a completely randomized design with 4 rabbits per treatment, each rabbit representing an experimental unit. The study was aimed to evaluate the growth performance and cost benefit of processed mucuna seed in rabbits diet. Five experimental diets were formulated, with full fat soyabean (FFSB) as the major protein source in treatment 1 (T1). The mucuna seeds boiled at different time intervals were included in each of the other four diets at 20% level to replace FFSB as a major protein source representing treatments 2 (T2), 3 (T3), 4 (T4) and 5 (T5) respectively. Duration of boiling did not have any significant (P>0.05) effect on the dry matter, crude fibre, ether extract and nitrogen free extract content of the seeds. However, as the boiling time increased, there was a significant (P<0.05) decrease in the crude protein (28.72-27.85) and ash content (3.51-1.98) of the seeds. Rabbit fed T5 with lesser daily feed intake among the mucuna seed diets, were more efficient in diet utilization as they put on more weight than those fed T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Higher profit was generated from sales of rabbit fed TI (0777.99) and lower for mucuna seed diets. Among the mucuna seed diets, however, profit was maximized as duration of boiling increased from 329.97-0582.79 (T2-T5).