Bromatological Analysis and Digestibility of Rubber Seed Hulls Treated with Various Plant Ash Extract in Rabbits Ration

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), B_7.5, B₁₀, B_12.5, H_7.5, H₁₀ and H_12.5 (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 < 0.05) affected by extracts of banana-plantain leaf ash and bean-tops on the bromatological composition of rubber hulls. Concerning feed intake, animals fed the CNH ration had significantly (P < 0.05) higher crude protein and crude fibre levels compared with the CUH ration and the other treatments. Banana leaves ash-plantain extracts induced comparable effects to those of bean-tops extracts whatever the dose and treatment considered, with the exception of crude protein at 10 and 12.5%, with a higher tendency for the bean-tops treatments. The apparent digestibility of animals fed with CNH diet produced significantly (P < 0.05) higher values than those fed the CUH diet for all parameters except organic matter. There was a significant (P < 0.05) linear increase in digestibility values with increasing ration rates, whatever the type of treatment. From the above, therefore it can be concluded that treating rubber seed hulls with banana-plantain leaves and bean-tops ash extracts improved digestibility in rabbits.