Effect of Different Processing Methods on the Nutrient, Anti-nutrient and Metabolizable Energy Composition of Raw Leucaena leucocephala Seed Meal

Abstract

The effect of different processing methods on the nutrient and anti-nutrient composition of raw Leuceana leucocephala seeds meal was determined using proximate composition, gross energy, mineral composition and metabolizable energy as parameters. The samples were of raw, toasted, boiled and fermented Leuceana leucocephala seeds meal. The samples were sun-dried, milled and used for both chemical analysis as well as for metabolizable energy determination. The experiment was carried out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The result of the proximate analysis of the seeds meal showed that the crude protein (CP) values for the raw was significantly higher (P<0.05) than the others. The result of macro-minerals showed that the boiled seeds values for Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca) Phosphorous (P) and Potassium (K) were significantly higher than others. The same sequence was observed in the values of the boiled Leuceana leucocephala for the micro-minerals of Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu) and Manganese (Mn) which were significantly higher (P<0.05) than the raw, toasted and fermented samples. For the gross energy composition, the values of the raw were significantly higher (P<0.05) than all the other samples. The true metabolizable energy (TME) and the true metabolizable energy corrected to nitrogen equilibrium (TME_n) of the boiled samples were significantly higher (P<0.05) than the other samples. The anti-nutritional factors indicate that toasted Leuceana leucocephala seeds meal had the highest reduction followed by boiling. Conclusively, boiled Leuceana leucocephala seeds meal had the highest value for proximate composition, minerals (Macro and Micro), metabolizable energy (both TME and TME_n) gross energy and metabolizable energy thereby making boiling the best processing method.