Nutritional potential of eggs from hens fed cassava peel meal and contribution to the reference nutrient intakes

The proximate and nutritional composition of eggs from hens fed a diet containing cassava peel meal was studied.Cassava peel flour was incorporated into the diets of laying hens.The incorporation rates were 0 and 20 % in treatments F0 and F1, respectively, each consisting of three batches (3 replicates x 2 treatments).Ten eggs were collected from each batch.Proximal analysis was performed using standard AOAC methods.This showed that F1 eggs contained 7.7 to 8.2% fat, 11.78 to 13.10% protein, 2.15 to 3.05% carbohydrate, 0.02 to 0.05% fibre and 0.81 to 0.88% ash.The pH was between 7.65 and 7.84.The activity of water was 0.96 and the hydrogen cyanide content was less than 0.01 mg/kg.The F0 control eggs had a fat content between 8.40 and 8.50 %, a protein content between 12.35 and 12.45 %, a carbohydrate content between 2.70 and 2.93 %, a fibre content between 0.03 and 0.04 % and an ash content between 0.86 and 0.92 %.Nutrient levels are very close to those generally found in hen eggs.The use of manioc flour as an energy source can be recommended without any Nutritional