Abstract

The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the impact of Blighia sapida aril level in diet on the growth of albino Wistar rats and their welfare. A quantity of B. sapida arils was cooked and lyophilized. Thirty six young albinos Wistar rats teams up in six with six homogeneous groups were used for a four weeks research. Young rats group were fed ad libitum with six different diets which can be distinguished by the level of B. sapida arils powder. There were control diet (0% B. sapida arils powder), diet Bs₁ (6.25% B. sapida arils powder), diet Bs₂ (12.5% B. sapida arils powder), diet Bs₃ (25% B. sapida arils powder), diet Bs₄ (50% B. sapida arils powder) and diet Bs₅ (75% B. sapida arils powder). Body weight was measured weekly and the animals were observed for signs of abnormalities throughout the study. At the end of the experimentation, blood sample was collected and analyzed. Results show that the growth of rats fed with diets Bs₁, Bs₂ and Bs₃ were normal as compared to the growth of rats fed with the control diet. On the other hand, growth retardation was noticed on rats fed with diets Bs₄ and Bs_5. However, rats coat fed with diets Bs₄ and Bs₅ were also normal. Again, for rats fed with diets Bs₄ and Bs₅, a level (p<0.05) of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol was noticed as compared to values obtained in rats of the other groups.In the case of natural disaster, the consumption of B. sapida aril could be used as nutritional base at a degree neighboring 50% of the nutritional need of the organism. Outside this value, growth retardation and a level of total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol can be noticed.

Key words: Blighia sapida aril, diet, rats, growth, welfare.