TITLE:
Bromatological Analysis and Digestibility of Rubber Seed Hulls Treated with Various Plant Ash Extract in Rabbits Ration
AUTHORS:
Ciemeni Michelle Aimee, Tchouan Deffo Gilchrist, Donfack Mikael, Langston Wilfried Edie Nounamo, Matho Amandine, Tindo Tsamene Romario, Defang Fualefac Henry
KEYWORDS:
Ashes, Bromatological Composition, Digestibility, Extracts, Hevea, Rabbit, Rubber Tree Hulls
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.15 No.3,
June
26,
2025
ABSTRACT: In recent decades, researchers have turned to phytobiotics and agricultural by-products in response to the nuisance caused by antibiotics and the frequent rise in raw material prices, in order to guarantee safety and profitability of consumers and intensive livestock farming respectively. This study was carried out to determine bromatological analysis and digestibility of rubber seed hulls treated with various plant ash extract in rabbits ration. At the beginning of the trial, the dry leaves of banana-plantain and bean-tops harvested from vicinity of the University of Dschang Research Farm (UDRF), the ashes will be obtained after calcination of plantain leaf and bean-tops. The extracts will be obtained after soaking ash for 48 hours at different concentrations (7.5; 10; 12.5 kg per 100 L of water). The hulls will be soaked for 12 hours in these ash extracts, then sundried, ground and incorporated into feed intake. Forty adult rabbits of local breed, 6 to 7 months old and weighing 2500 g on average were used for digestibility test and were divided into 8 batches of 5 animals each, receiving the following rations: CNH (Control-N-Hulls), CUH (Control 20 % Untreated-Hulls), B7.5, B10, B12.5, H7.5, H10 and H12.5 (containing 20 % hulls treated with different ash concentration extracts). Data collected were subjected in a two-ways analysis of variance according to the test method. The results showed that with the exception of NDF, all other parameters were significantly (P