Growth, haematology and serum biochemistry of albino rat fed diet containing raw and thermally processed Loofah Gourd (Luffa cylindrica Roem) seed meals

Abstract

The competition for food and feed arising from scarcity of conventional livestock feedstuff has resulted into search for novel feedstuff that is currently not being utilized as food by man. Thus, the present study was carried out to evaluate the nutritional potential of thermally processed loofah gourds seed in rats was evaluated in a 21-day completely randomized design feeding trials. Forty-eight Wistar strain male albino rats of 46.57±0.55g were allotted to four dietary treatments (T1–raw, T2–boiled, T3–cooked and T4–toasted) loofah gourd seed meal (LGSM) with three replicates each. Data collected included feed intake (FI), weight gain (WG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and carcass characteristics. Haematological and serological variables were determined using standard laboratory procedures. Results revealed that thermal processing significantly (P<0.05) reduced FI by 9–13%. Rats fed toasted LGSM had significantly (P<0.05) highest (7.55) weight gain and best (2.31) FCR while rats fed cooked LGSM had significantly (P<0.05) lowest (4.58) WG and worst (3.96) FCR. Dressing percentage, kidney and abdominal fat and serum biochemistry indices were significantly (P<0.05) affected by thermal processing. The study showed that thermal processing of LGSM enhanced growth performance and had no adverse effect on the haematology and serum biochemistry of albino rats.