Abstract

The proximate composition, carbohydrate fraction, minerals and residual anti-nutritional factors in peeled and unpeeled raw, cooked and soaked breadfruit meal were determined. Results indicated that breadfruit meals processed in various ways contained 4.31 - 4.85% crude protein, 5.00 - 5.38% crude fibre, 2.11 - 2.90% ether extract, 68.38 - 69.20% starch and 2.56 - 2.90 ash which can enhance its nutritional status. Residual anti-nutritional factors that were detected in the meals were oxalate (2.70 - 3.30 mg/kg), phytic acid (0.58 - 0.75 g/100 g), tannin (6.06 - 6.70 mg/kg, trypsin inhibitor (0.00 - 21.30 TIU/mg) and haemagglutinin (0.00 - 12.30 HU/mg). The meals also had high gross energy (16.00 - 16.20 Mj/kg) and metabolizable energy (13.01 - 13.74 Mj/Kg). Cooking completely eliminated trypsin inhibitor and haemagglutinin and reduced the concentration of oxalate and tannin while phytic acid was unaffected. Soaking in water reduced (P < 0.05) oxalate, phytic acid, tannin, trypsin inhibitor and haemagglutinin. Peeling, cooking and soaking improved the metabolizable energy of breadfruit meal significantly (P < 0.05). It was concluded that breadfruit meal can be a substitute for maize in poultry diet if properly processed.

Key words: Nutrient composition, energy value, residual anti-nutritional factors, breadfruit meal.

Abbreviation

PRBFM, Peeled raw breadfruit meal; URBFM, unpeeled raw breadfruit meal; PSBFM, peeled soaked breadfruit meal; USBFM, unpeeled soaked breadfruit meal; PCBFM, peeled cooked breadfruit meal; UCBFM, unpeeled cooked breadfruit meal; AME, apparent metabolizable energy; ME, metabolizable energy.