DETERMINATION OF THE TRUE METABOLIZABLE ENERGY (TME) OF RAW AND HEAT-TREATED Mrictmu cocltinclrirtensis USING ADULT BROILERS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the biologically available energy of mucuaa cochinchinensis seeds in term of true metabolizable energy using adult broilers. The seeds were subjected to three heat processing methods of boiling at 105°C for 90 minutes, toasting at temperature that fluctuated between 105°C and 110°C for 60 minutes, and presoaking for 12 hours followed by boiling for 60 minutes. A fourth lot was left raw. Each of the samples was ground, made into slurry and force-fed to adult broilers that have been starved for 24 hours. Six broilers paired into three by weight were used for each sample. Each pair consisted of fed and unfed birds, which were left in individual cages with clear1 plastic trays underneath for 24 hours. After this, the droppings were collected quantitatively, dried, and combusted in bomb calorimeter. The three sample subjected to heat processing methods yielded true metabolizable energy (TME) values that were similar but significantly (P<0.05) higher than the true metabolizable energy of the raw stock. The TME values of the samples were raw (1.05 Kcal), toasted (3.00Kcal), soaked-and-boiled (3.19 Kcal), and boiled (3.22 Kcal). These represent 22.83% and average of 7032 % for the raw and heat-treated samples, respectively. The results show that heat treatment can be used as means of processing mucuaa cochinchinensis in order to improve its bioavailable energy.