Standardized ileal amino acid digestibility of Bambara nut (Vigna Subterranea (L.) Verdc) in broiler chicks

Abstract

This study evaluated the standardized ileal amino acid digestibility of processed Bambara Bambara nut in broiler chicks. Two hundred and forty (240) one-day-old Abor Acre plus-strain birds were fed a commercial broiler starter diet for 15 days. On day 16, the birds were randomly distributed into 4 treatments with 6 replicates and 10 birds each in a randomized complete block design. Diet 1 was a Nitrogen Free Diet (NFD); Diet 2 was a Highly Digestible Protein (HDP); while Diets 3 and 4 comprised roasted Bambara Bambara nut (RBN) and soaked + roasted Bambara Bambara nut (SRBN) as the sole sources of protein. On day 21, birds were sacrificed and digesta was collected from the terminal ileum. The Endogenous Amino Acid Losses (EAAL), Apparent Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility (AIAAD), Standardized Ileal Amino Acid Digestibility (SIAAD) were estimated. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and means separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test at α0.05. Amino acid with the highest flow was lysine and aspartic acid for nitrogen-free diet, while ileal endogenous alanine was higher in HDP. Overall, the apparent digestibility of soaked + roasted Bambara Bambara nut was significantly lower than birds fed roasted Bambara nut, except for arginine, methionine, tryptophan, glutamic acid, and glycine which did not differ statistically. Birds fed with roasted Bambara nut diet had the highest amino acid digestibility values after standardization except for tryptophan. In conclusion, birds on roasted Bambara nut diet maintained the highest digestibility values after standardization irrespective of the method (NFD or HDP) used for estimating endogenous ileal amino acid losses.