Effects of Varied Levels of Amino Acid-Rich Sweet Potato Composite on the Reproductive Performance of Rabbit Does Reared in the Tropics

I.F. Olaleru and O.A. Abu

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to investigate how varied levels of Amino Acid-rich Composite Sweet potato affected lactating performance and overall Reproductive Cycle Outcomes in does. Materials and Methods: The crude protein content and amino acid profile of leaf, roots and composite meal produced from 65% root and 35% leaves for two varieties of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas Lam.) namely, TIS 87/0087 white flesh sweet potato (WFSP) and CIP 440293 orange flesh sweet potato (OFSP), were analyzed. Twenty-five rabbit does of mixed breeds (New Zealand White×California×Chinchilla) aged 6-7 months were assigned randomly to one of five experimental diets: T1 (control), T2 and T3 contained 25 and 50% orange-fleshed CSPM and T4 and T5 contained 25 and 50% white-fleshed CSPM. The diets comprised 10.6-12.6% crude fibre, 16.4-17.6% crude protein and metabolizable energy of 2610-2788 kcal kg^–1. Results: The crude protein content in roots of 87/0087 (WFSP) and CIP 440293 (OFSP) were 3.32 and 8.04%, respectively. There was an appreciable higher value of crude protein in the leaf of TIS 87/0087 (11.18%) and CIP 440293 (11.26%), respectively. The crude protein content was least in composite WFSP (6.13%) and higher in composite OFSP (14.8 %). Total amino acid content ranged from 7.704 to 18.35 and 23.717 to 23.863 g/100 g protein for root and leaf samples, respectively. The overall feed intake of does in all the treatments was not significantly different (p>0.05). Does fed on diets T4 and T5 had the largest litter size at birth (5.00) compared to the other treatments. In different treatments, there was no significant difference in initial average body weight, gestation duration, or litter weight of does at birth. Conclusion: The high content of crude protein and its quality amino acids in the two varieties of the sweet potato composite meals placed it on a commensurate level for consideration as a potential replacement for expensive conventional protein source in livestock diet.

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