Efficacy of Trichilia Monadelpha Stem Bark Extracts on the Growth Performance of Growing Rabbits

Abstract

The use of medicinal plants have been gaining increasing attention due to antibiotic resistance and the need to promote a healthy environment as well as food safety. Secondary metabolites in Trichilia monadelpha stem bark extract (TMSBE) was analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) system while proximate analysis of experimental diet was carried out using Near Infra-red Spectrophotometer kit (NIR). 40 growing New Zealand white × Chinchilla crossbred rabbits of 6-7 weeks age (472.6 ± 6.2 g) were used for the experiment. Rabbits were randomly assigned to 4 groups, each treatment was further divided into 5 replicates consisting of 2 rabbits each. Group 1 (G1): Basal diet with no TMSBE, G2: Basal diet plus 3 mL TMSBE per rabbit/day, G3: Basal diet plus 6 mL TMSBE per rabbit/day and G4: Basal diet plus 9 mL TMSBE per rabbit/day. Experimental diet was formulated to meet the nutrient requirement standards for growing rabbits according to Nutritional Research Council standards (1977). GC/MS analysis of TMSBE revealed that it is abundant in coapene (25.40 %) followed by azulene (18.29 %), δ-cadinene (15.39 %), α-cubebene (10.61 %) and α-longipinene (10.11 %) respectively other compounds were less than 5 %. Average weekly weight gain (AWWG), average weekly feed intake (AWFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P˂0.05) different among the treatments. AWWG and AWFI follow similar trend and were highest in G3 and G4, intermediate in G2, lowest in G1 (P˂0.05). Better FCR were recorded among rabbits in G4 compared to the other groups (P˂0.05). It was concluded that feeding TMSBE at 9 mL/day improved feed intake and enhance performance in rabbits.