Nutritional and digestibility profile of palm kernel cake (Elaeis guineensis) produced in different regions of Tanzania
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Date
2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Abstract
The feed depleted livestock industry gears to exploring non-conventional animal feeds. Among them is Palm kernel cake (PKC)
for its potential use as animal feed hence the need for the study. PKC samples from Kigoma, Mbeya and Morogoro were
collected for analysis of its nutritional composition, Van Soest fibre analysis and digestibility (invitro and in Sacco) which were
done at the Tanzania veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA-Dar es salaam) and department of Animal, Aquaculture and Range
Sciences (DAARS)- Sokoine University of Agriculture. The study found out that PKC samples from Kigoma and Mbeya had
high Crude Protein and Ash (CP 19.2% and 18.1% CP) and (7.6 and 7.3% ash) but less energy (9.6 and 9.4 MJME/kgDM) and
ether extract (EE 11.1% and 11.2%EE), respectively compared with those of Morogoro (12.7%CP, 5.6% Ash, 19.8% EE and 14.4
MJME/kgDM) though they had comparable Crude Fibre (CF) value (19.1-22.1). The contents of Neutral Detergent Fibre (NDF,
68.3 and 64.4%), Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF, 34.2% and 31%) for samples of Kigoma and Mbeya, were higher than those of
Morogoro (48.8% NDF and 21.4% ADF) with almost similar Acid Detergent Lignin (ADL) results (6.9, 4.7 and 5.4%,
respectively). Both Invitro and In Sacco digestibility were higher for samples from Mbeya (51.2 and 53.5%) respectively in
comparison to samples from Kigoma (36.8 and 38.9%) and Morogoro (34.6 and 35.8%). In conclusion the study revealed a
varying nutritional composition and digestibility of PKC samples collected from different regions of Tanzania which were
however within the NRC recommended level hence being suitable for ruminant feeding.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Palm Kernel Cake, Nutritional Composition, Digestibility
Citation
Copyright: © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.