This study evaluated the effect of fermentation period on the proximate composition, anti-nutritional content, fibre fractions and amino acid profile of cocoa pod husk meal (CPHM). Cocoa pod husk was taken through a solid state fermentation process involving Rhizopus stolonifer as its starter culture for a period of two weeks. The fermented CPHM was dried and analyzed for its proximate composition, anti-nutritional factors, fibre fractions and amino acid profile. The results of the study revealed that the crude protein content of CPHM significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved during fermentation by 48.59%, while crude fibre and crude lipid decreased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) by 14 and 22%, respectively after 2 weeks of fermentation. The theobromine, tannin and phytate of the fermented samples decreased by 77.3, 94 and 27% after 14 days fermentation, respectively. Also, the neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), hemicellulose (HEMM) and cellulose (CELL) decreased progressively as the days of fermentation increased and total esssential amino acid (TEAA) of the fermented CPH meal increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) as days of fermentation increased showing that Rhizopus stolonifer may both enhance CPHM protein quantity and improve its quality. It could be concluded that fermentation with R. stolonifer for 14 days could improve the nutritive value of CPH and thus increase its inclusion in the formulation of diets for animals.

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License A 25-weeks trial was carried out to determine the efficacy of feeding Rhizopus stolonifer fermented cocoa pod husk meal (FCPH) supplemented with Ronozyme multigrain enzyme (RME) at various stages of age of pullets. Two hundred and forty day old Isa Brown chickens were randomly assigned to six dietary treatments. Each treatment was replicated four times comprising of ten chickens per replicate and arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial in Completely Randomized Design. Rhizopus stolonifer FCPH meal was incorporated into the diet as test ingredient at varying inclusion level of 0%, 10% and 20% based on 100% diet. Each diet was then divided into two, one part void of enzyme and designated as diets I, III and V and the other parts supplemented with RME at 200 mg kg -1 of the diet and designated as diets II, IV and VI respectively. Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were significantly (p <0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments with birds fed diet containing 10% FCPH meal without RME supplementation having highest weight gain across different stages of growth. The effect of enzyme and the interaction between diet and enzyme were not significant (p >0.05). Hematological and serum biochemical indices were also not significantly (p >0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. Age at first lay and egg weight at first lay were also significantly (p <0.05) influenced by the dietary treatment. The use of Rhizopus stolonifer FCPH meal supplemented with RME in grower diets markedly increased age at sexual maturity and weight of first egg laid, with birds fed diets containing 10% FCPH meal fast coming to lay and birds fed 20% FCPH meal having higher weight of egg at first lay. Egg weight, egg width, shell surface area, shell thickness, yolk length and albumen length were also significantly (p <0.05) influenced by the diet treatment. Rhizopus stolonifer FCPH meal up to 10% without RME supplementation can effectively be used in pullet grower's diets without adversely affecting production performance or sexual maturity into lay.

Background The study evaluated the growth performance, haemabiochemical and antioxidant profile of two breeds of rabbits fed diets containing varying levels of Rhizopus stolonifer fermented cocoa pod husk meal (FCPHM). Cocoa pod husk meal was taken through solid-state fermentation for a period of 2 weeks using Rhizopus stolonifer as its starter culture. One hundred and eighty, 5-week-old unsexed weaned rabbits 90 New Zealand white (NZW) and 90 Chinchilla (CHL) were randomly allocated into three dietary treatments, Diets I, II and III (0%, 12.5 and 25%FCPHM, respectively), and were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial design (2 breeds and 3 diets) of a randomized block design. Results The study showed that the breed effect and dietary treatment were significant (p < 0.01) for total weight gain and feed conversion ratio with NZW breed fed 12.5% FCPHM having higher values than CHL breed. Serum total protein concentration was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by the dietary treatment, while alanine aminotransferase, globulin and total protein concentrations were significantly (p < 0.01) affected by the breed effect. The interactive effect of breed and dietary treatment was only significant (p < 0.05) for serum albumin concentration. Malondialdehyde concentration was significantly influenced by both dietary treatments (p < 0.05) and breed (p < 0.001) factors. Conclusion It was observed that CHL rabbits were more predisposed to stress than the NZW rabbits as indicated by the lipid peroxidation values, and according to this present finding, 12.5% FCPHM is recommended as active feed ingredient in rabbit diets.

A 49 day feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of biologically upgraded cocoa pod husk meal (BCPHM) on the growth performance, haemato-biochemical indices and antioxidant status of broiler chickens. Three experimental diets were formulated at both starter and finisher phases in which BCPHM was added as an active feed ingredient at 0, 10, 20% and designated as diets 1, 2 and 3 respectively. One hundred and fifty day old Marshal broiler chicks weighing 39±2.5g/bird were allotted to 3 dietary treatments (10birds/replicate, 50birds/treatment) in a completely randomized design. The Average daily weight gain (ADWG), total weight gain (TWG) and final body weight (FBW) of broiler chicks fed diets containing 10% BCPHM was significantly (p˂0.05) higher than that of control and diet containing 20% BCPHM at starter phase. At finisher phase, the values of ADWG, TWG  and FBW were at par with that of control. Feed Intake was seen to increase as BCPHM increased in the diet at finisher phase. Carcass traits, relative internal organ weight, haemato-biochemcal indices of broiler chickens were similar across dietary treatment. Superoxide dimutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) of birds fed control diet were significantly (p˂0.05) higher than those of birds fed BCPHM based diets. Ten percent dietary inclusion of BCPHM appears optimal in broiler diet since beyond this level growth performance declined.