Growth and Hematological Performances of Broilers Fed on Meal and Protein Isolate of Mucuna pruriens Seeds

The potential for the utilization of Mucuna seeds as an alternative source of protein was evaluated by presoaking in water then in sodium bicarbonate solution + boiling treatment on the one hand and isolating protein technique on the second hand on the growth and hematological performances of broilers. A total of 135 one-day-old Cobb500 broilers, divided into three groups of 45 animals each were randomly allocated to three treatment diets with 3 replicates (n=15/replicate) each per treatment and fed ad libitum with three iso-protein diets: Diet 1 (RTS) given to the Control batch contained soya bean meal and this principal protein source was completely replaced by M. pruriens seeds meal in Diet 2 (RFM) and by protein isolated from M. pruriens in Diet 3 (RIM) given to batches 2 and 3 respectively. Results revealed that FI, ADG, PER, Carcass yield, Hb and Hct were comparable but significantly (p<0.05) low in broilers fed RFM (77.01 g/26.16 g/1.99/68.69%, 11.98 g/dL/28.46% respectively) and RIM (76.98 g/25.88 g/2.08/67.61%, 12.05 g/dL/28.28% respectively) diets and also in all characteristics of the digestive tract. The inverse trend i.e. highest (p<0.05) but comparable values of Heart (0.74 g/RFM; 0.77 g/RIM) was observed in these same animals; Birds fed RIM diet registered the lowest (p<0.05) BWG (711.04 g) and LW (799.65 g) but the highest (p<0.05) FCR (3.45). These results suggest that meal and protein isolate of M. pruriens seeds could be valorised in broiler diet subject to further investigations in growth-finishing phase.