ARI Volume 2 Number 1.pdf - Zoo-unn.org

Animal Research International (2005) 2(1): 240 – 245 240BAOBAB (Adansonia digitata L.) SEED PROTEIN UTILIZATION IN YOUNGALBINO RATS I: BIOCHEMICAL INGREDIENTS AND PERFORMANCECHARACTERISTICSEZEAGU, Ikechukwu EdwinNutrition Unit, Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, P. O. Box 15676,Enugu, Nigeria. Email: ikezeagu@yahoo.co.ukABSTRACTRaw, cooked and HCl-extracted baobab, Adansonia digitata seed meals were used forbiological and nutritional evaluation studies. The seed is low in protein (16.60g/100g DM) butcould be a good source of oil (17.50g/100g) and minerals, particularly sodium, potassium andphosphorus, which contained 228.0, 1429.0 and 924.5 mg/100gDM respectively. Low levels ofantinutritional factors such as tannin, phytate, cyanide, oxalate, nitrate/nitrite and absence oftrypsin inhibitors were observed. Seed protein is high in sulfur-amino acid, with a chemicalscore (CS) of 126.80, but marginally limiting in lysine and threonine, with CS of 64.31 and85.59 respectively based on the preschool age (2-5yrs) reference protein requirement. Theseed oil contain appreciable level of unsaturated fatty acids with oleic and linoleic acidsmaking up 66.32% of total fatty acids. The raw diet was similar to the casein diet in weightgain, feed intake, net protein retention (NPR) and true digestibility (TD) but significantlyinferior in protein efficiency ratio (PER). Cooking did not have any significant effect on feedintake but significantly lowered the weight gain relative to the raw and casein diets. HClextractedmeal exerted significantly lower weight gain compared to the raw, cooked andcasein diets . It is concluded that the raw seed showed promise as a source of foodsupplement and is likely to be satisfactory in supporting growth and maintenance in livestockfeeding.Keywords: Adansonia digitata, Baobab seed protein, Biochemical ingredients, Performance, RatsINTRODUCTIONThe majority of sub-Saharan African countriesincluding Nigeria are faced with acute foodshortages. The solution to the food problem mustbe sought through a combination of all availablesources. Food and agricultural scientists arebeginning to screen wild and under-exploitednative plants for possible potential sources of foodin an attempt to widen the narrow food base(Vietmeyer and Janick 1996; Oelke et al., 1997).Several reports have also indicated that lots oflesser-known native crop species are high innutrients and could possibly relieve critical foodshortages if given adequate promotion andresearch attention (Madubuike et al., 1994; Murrayet al., 2001). Working on the prospects of utilizingsuch lesser known and neglected plants, researchreports have revealed that quite a large numberhave useful qualities – either for direct use asanimal feed ingredient or as a raw material forseed protein extraction (Ezeagu et al., 2000,2003). However, prior to utilization of suchunconventional resources data indicating thenutrient composition and toxic factors should beavailable. Toxicological evaluation of possibleepidemiological response to the ingestion of novelfood sources and the methods of processing thatwill enhance their utility as food or feed ingredientare all necessary in order to achieve optimalutilization (Longvah et a l., 2000).Baobab is a well-adapted deciduous treenative to the arid parts of Central Africa and widelyspread in the savannah regions in Nigeria(Wickens, 1980; FAO, 1988). Its leaves, bark andfruit are used as food and for medicinal purposesin many parts of Africa. In the Sahel, for example,baobab leaf is a staple the Hausas used to make“miyan kuka”, a soup prepared by boiling the leafin salt water and reported to be a rich source ofVitamin C. During acute seasonal food supplyfluctuations or famine periods, the leaves and fruitof baobab are of particular importance assupplementary and emergency food (Humphrey etal. 1993). The seed has a relatively thick shell,which is not readily separated from the kernel. Thekernel is edible but the difficulties of decorticatingseem to have limited its use as food/feed andconsequently large quantities go into waste. Butthe increasing pressure of population andpredictable food shortages are creating a demandfor new food sources of human nutrition. Fewreports have indicated the composition of thebaobab fruit pulp and leaves (Nour et a l., 1980;