Abstract

Cassava peels which is available in large quantity as waste is being considered as a possible replacement for maize in chicken feeds due to the world shortage of cereals. This study examined the safety of collagen and reticulin fibres in the liver and kidney of broiler chicken, when the Aspergillus niger-hydrolyzed cassava peel meal (HCPM) was used as diet carbohydrate. HCPM was used as replacement for maize in chicken feeds at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%, respectively and were fed for 42 days. The animals were sacrificed and the liver and kidney were excised and fixed immediately in 10% formol-saline for 48 h. The tissues were processed for paraffin embedding. Sections were cut at 3 microns, dried for 30 min at 60°C and were stained using both Gordon & Sweet and Masson’s Trichrome methods. The result showed the preservation of the reticulin and collagen fibres up to the 50% inclusion of HCPM as replacement for maize. The implication is that; the use of HCPM will make available for human consumption, half of the world maize cereals been consumed by the poultry birds.

Key words: Aspergillus niger, cassava peels, cellulolytic enzymes, collagen fibre, reticulin.