A Comparative Study of two Normal Maize and two Quality Protein Maize Varieties – Effects on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Albino Rats

2012

English

The experiment was conducted to determine growth performance and organ characteristics of weanling rats fed diets containing four different varieties of maize. Twenty individually-housed, Wistar rats (12 males and 8 females) were allotted to four dietary treatments labelled, Local Normal (LN), Imported Normal Yellow (INY), Golden Jubilee (GJ) and Etubi (ET) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Each treatment was replicated five times, with a rat representing a replicate. Feed and water were offered ad-libitum and growth performance was monitored for four weeks. The feed intake figures were similar (P > 0.05) but there was a trend of higher intake in the yellow than in the white varieties. The values obtained were 12.18, 13.83, 13.78 and 12.44 g for LN, INY, GJ and ET diets respectively. The feed conversion efficiencies (FCE) were 5.61, 4.53, 4.31 and 5.91 for the LN, INY, GJ and ET diets respectively, with the yellow varieties (GJ and INY diets, especially GJ) showing better (P<0.05) feed conversion efficiencies over their white counterparts (LN and ET). The mean weights of the heart, full and empty GIT, respiratory tract, spleen and viscera were not influenced (P > 0.05) by the dietary treatments. It was concluded that the Golden Jubilee, a relatively new QPM variety could be very useful in monogastric diets.

Boateng, M.; Okai, D. B.; Salifu, A. R. S.