Nutritional Quality of Cassia Siamea (Yellow Cassia) Flower Meal; Effect on Feed Digestibility and Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens

An experiment was conducted to assess the nutritive value of Cassia siamea flower meal. The flowers were harvested around Nyankpala Campus by hand plugging. The flowers were shade-dried to a moisture content of about 10%. The dried flowers were milled to pass through a 2mm sieve using a hummer mill and bagged. The Cassia siamea flower meal was labeled CSFM. Samples of the dried flowers were repackaged for laboratory investigations. Varying levels (0, 20, 40, and 60g/kg) were also included in broiler chicken diets for digestibility and growth performance tests. The proximate composition of the CSFM revealed that the material contained high levels of dry matter (96.5%) and nitrogen-free extractive (73.06%). However, the material contained a relatively low level of crude protein (8. 2%). Other components include crude fiber (11.5%), ether extract (2.83%), and ash (4.40%). Interestingly, the CSFM contained an appreciable quantity of metabolizable energy (3092 Kcal/kg). Fiber fraction determination from the CSFM revealed that the material contained neutral detergent fiber (32.95 g/kg), acid detergent fiber (21.95 g/kg) and hemi-cellulose (11.00 g/kg). Screening for mineral content of CSFM revealed the presence of the following minerals; calcium (0.64%), phosphorus (0.26%), potassium (1.28%), magnesium (0.13%), manganese (26.5 mg/kg), zinc (mg/kg) and iron (100 mg/kg). The inclusion of CSFM at varying levels (0, 20, 40, and 60 g/kg) in broiler chicken diets did not affect (p>0.05) dry matter, organic matter, crude fiber, and nitrogen-free extractives digestibility in broiler chickens. However, crude protein digestibility was significantly reduced (p<0.001) between birds fed the control diet and those fed diets containing CSFM. Crude protein digestibility was reduced by almost 26% when CSFM was included in the diets. More so, diets containing CSFM at 20, 40, and 60 g/kg had similar (p>0.05) crude protein digestibility. The inclusion of CSFM in the diets of broiler chickens improved (p<0.05) ether extract digestibility by an average of 24%. However, the birds fed diets containing CSFM at 20, 40, and 60 g/kg had similar (p>0.05) ether extract digestibility. There was a significant (p<0.001) difference among the treatment groups in terms of weight gain. Birds fed the control diet had the highest (p<0.001) weight gain among the treatment groups. However, birds fed diets containing 20 and 40 g/kg of CSFM had similar (p>0.05) weight gain and higher (p<0.001) than those birds fed diets containing 60 g/kg of CSFM. There were significant (p<0.001) differences among the treatment groups in terms of carcass dress weight. Birds fed diets containing 0 and 20 g/kg of CSFM had similar (p>0.05) carcass dress weights. More so, those birds fed diets containing 0 and 4 g/kg of CSFM also had similar (p>0.05) carcass dress weights. However, birds fed diets containing 60 g/kg of CSFM had the lowest (p<0.001) carcass dress weight. Carcass dressing percentage did not (p>0.05) vary among the treatment groups. It was concluded that CSFM contained high DM, NFE, and ME contents but low CP content. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of anti-nutritional factors and its inclusion in broiler chicken diets significantly reduced CP digestibility and improved EE digestibility. Growth performance was also adversely affected.