NUTRITIONAL EVALUATION OF CITRULLUS COLOCYNTHIS SEED COAT AS A DIETARY COMPONENT IN RAT FEEDING TRIALS

Growth performance of rats maintained on Citrullus colocynthis seed coat based diet was evaluated. The experiment was carried out to ascertain whether replacing corn starch in animal feed with raw or heat- treated Citrullus colocynthis seed coat can support proper growth of the animals. Forty-nine weanling albino rats, with mean weight of 36.76g ± 2.56g were divided into seven (7) groups of equal average weight. The groups were then randomly assigned to seven (7) experimental diets. Diet C (Control) contained 100% inclusion level of corn starch. Diets R, A and B contained 100% inclusion levels of raw, autoclaved and boiled Citrullus colocynthis seed coat respectively, while diets CR, CA and CB contained 50% inclusion levels of raw, autoclaved and boiled Citrullus colocynthis seed coat respectively. The rats were fed on their respective experimental diets and water ad libitum for six weeks after one week of acclimatization period to the laboratory environment. Feed intake, growth response, carbohydrate metabolism and organ to body weight ratio were determined. The results obtained revealed that 50% inclusion levels of autoclaved or boiled Citrullus colocynthis seed coat diets did not significantly affect (p>0.05) the average weekly feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio and carbohydrate digestibility but significantly reduced (p ˂ 0.05) metabolizable energy. Organ to body weight ratio and concentrations of blood pyruvate, lactate and lactate-to- pyruvate ratio were also not significantly (p>0.05) affected by these diets. 100% inclusion levels of raw, boiled, autoclaved Citrullus colocynthis seed coat diets and 50% inclusion level of raw Citrullus colocynthis seed coat diet significantly (p ˂ 0.05) reduced the average weekly feed intake, weight gain, carbohydrate digestibility and metabolizable energy, but significantly increased feed conversion ratio, lactate, pyruvate and lactate/pyruvate ratio. Present findings showed that 50% replacement of corn starch by boiled or autoclaved Citrullus colocynthis seed coat in animal feed supports proper growth of the animals. However, further researches to ascertain the safety of the seed coat is necessary