Atchade Ghislaine Sègbédji Théodora1, Edenakpo Kocou Aimé2, Soro Kouhana3, Yetome Amour4, and Houndonougbo Mankpondji Frédéric5
1 Unit for Research on Health, Fisheries, and Animal Nutrition; Center for Agricultural Research in Fisheries and Animal Production, National Institute of Agricultural Research of , 01 BP 884, Cotonou, Ben, Benin
2 Center for Agricultural Research in Animal Production and Fisheries, National Institute of Agricultural Research of , 01 BP 884, Cotonou, Ben, Benin
3 Université Peleforo GON COULIBALY, Département de biochimie-génétique, Unité d’enseignement et de recherche en génétique, Côte d’Ivoire
4 Center for Agricultural Research in Animal Production and Fisheries, National Institute of Agricultural Research of , 01 BP 884, Cotonou, Ben, Benin
5 Department of Sciences ant techniques of Animal Production, University of Abomey-Calavi, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, 01 BP 526, Cotonou, Benin
Original language: English
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Abstract
Okara, or soybean residue, is a by-product of artisanal soy milk production, which is still underutilized in rabbit feeding in Benin. In the context of expensive soybean seeds and soybean meal, the high-protein potential of okara deserves to be explored as an economic alternative. To assess the effect of dried-okara-based diets on bioeconomic performances of growing rabbits, a four-week experiment was conducted with twenty-seven weaned rabbits of eight-week-old. Based on their live weight, rabbits were allocated into three homogeneous groups of nine each. They were fed respectively with three dried okara based diets containing 0% (A0); 10% (A10) and 20% (A20) of okara. Proximate analysis of dried okara revealed 26% of crude protein content. One-way analysis of variance showed that dried-okara-based diets slightly reduced appetite, while significantly improving average daily gain (19.73 and 21.72 g) and feed conversion ratios (3.28 and 3.67) in rabbits fed A10 and A20 compared to respectively 17.69 and 4,43 in A0. Economically, feed cost per kilogram of live weight gain significantly decreased, from 451 FCFA (A0) to 344 FCFA (A20). These results highlight the interest of dried okara as a local valuable protein feedstuff, usable up to 20% in growing rabbit balanced diets without a need of soybean meal.
Author Keywords: Soybean pulp, Oryctolagus cuniculis, Palatability, Growth, Economic efficiency, Benin.
