Neem leaves are reported to be palatable to sheep (Chandrawathani et al., 2006) and goats (Seresinhe and Marapana 2011). Bais et al., (2002) offered goats a diet of neem leaves alone and found a high voluntary intake of 3.12% of body weight. In another in vitro study, DM digestibility of neem leaves was 50% (Amanullah et al., 2006).
Bais et al., (2002) offered goats a diet of neem leaves alone and found no adverse effects. But neem leaves are said to be palatable to sheep (Chandrawathani et al., 2006) and also to goats (Seresinhe and Marapana, 2011). There is abundant literature on the effect of neem leaves and extracts on intestinal worms (Chandrawathani et al., 2006; Tiwary and Pandey, 2010).
Chemical analysis of Neem leaves
After collecting the leaves, the fresh samples were dried in sunlight and then ground into powder using a laboratory grinder to reduce the particle size and then kept in plastic bags for laboratory analysis and further use as feed for animals on the experimental diet.
Experimental animals
The concentrate mixture (supplementary feed) was offered at 300 g DM/. animals/d) and this concentrate mixture was gradually replaced using dry neem leaves as per Table 3.2. The total concentrate mixture and dry neem leaf for each treatment were weighed once a day. Feed conversion efficiency was calculated as a proportion of live weight gain to feed intake for the entire experimental period.
The concentrate mixture was replaced with neem leaves at and 150 g among the remaining 300 g of diet and four experimental treatments were as follows according to Table 3.2.
In-vitro dry matter and organic matter digestibility
- Preparation of buffered solution
- Preparation of buffered rumen fluid
- Preparation of serum bottles
- In-vitro dry matter (IVDM) and organic matter (IVOM) digestibility
In this process, a certain pH of 6.9 is required for the in vitro test to work effectively. The pH was balanced by adding one to two drops of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The next day, the rumen fluid was mixed with buffer from a freshly slaughtered cow and the rumen fluid. The upper residue of the rumen fluid was removed, the fluid was discarded, while the middle part was collected and used in the experiment.
Finally, the prepared rumen fluid buffer was poured into different serum vials for the final in vitro experiment.
Laboratory Analysis for Faecal egg counting
Measurement of pH
Immediately after the animals were dressed, approx. 10 g of meat from the longissimus dorsi muscle.
Measurement of drip loss and Cook loss
Frozen muscle subsamples (LD) were removed from a −80°C freezer to a 4°C cooler overnight to thaw. The thawed samples were individually weighed and recorded as the initial weight (W1), and placed in sealed waterproof plastic bags. Cooked samples were removed from the water bath, allowed to settle to room temperature and removed from the bag, blotted dry without squeezing and weighed again (W2).
Statistical analysis
CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS
- Chemical composition different parts of Azadirachta indica (Neem)
- Chemical Composition of Supplements Used in Growth and Digestibility Study
- Effect of dietary Neem foliage on growth performances of sheep
- Faecal egg Counts (FEC) and FAMACHA estimations
- Carcass characteristics, internal and lymphoid organs of Sheep fed different dietary treatments
- Drip loss and pH of meat at different postmortem aging periods of sheep fed dietary treatments
- Cook loss of meat sheep fed different level of neem leaves
- Chemical composition of sheep meat
The feed conversion efficiency of sheep on the basal diet (Treatment 1) and Treatment 4 was similar (P>0.05) but significantly (P<0.05) higher than sheep on Treatment 2 and 3 diets. The effects of dietary supplementation with different levels of neem leaves on carcass characteristics, internal and lymphoid organs of sheep are presented in Table 4.4. The muscle pH and drip loss values of breast muscle in broilers fed different dietary treatments are shown in Table 4.5.
Nutritional treatment had no effect (P> 0.05) on muscle pH in sheep on days 1 and 3 of postmortem aging. On days 1 and 7 post-slaughter, dietary treatment affected the loss of muscle mass of dripping sheep (P>0.05), and dripping loss was reduced (P<0.05) in the treated groups, which were sheep fed with dry neem leaves. Regardless of dietary treatment, dripping meat loss increased with increasing post-mortem aging period, whereas no further changes in dripping loss were observed from 5 to 7 days of post-slaughter storage.
On day 1 postmortem, meat cooking loss increased with the increase in dry neem leaves in the basal diet and significantly (P<0.05) higher cooking loss was obtained in sheep fed 100 to 150 g of dry neem leaves used in dietary treatments , i.e. T3 and T4. However, no significant differences (P> 0.05) were observed in the cooking loss of meat among the dietary treatments among treatments T2, T3 and T4. The chemical composition of beef sheep fed different levels of basal diet dry leaves is represented in Table 4.6.
The percentage of moisture, ash and CP content of meat was unaffected across the dietary treatments. The ether extract content of meat from sheep fed increased proportion of neem leaf in basal diet decreased numerically, both CP and EE than that of control diet.
Treatments*
Cooking loss %
In vitro gas production and pH
Total gas production increased with increased neem leaves in the diet, but no significant difference was observed among the treatments throughout the incubation period. However, total gas production was increased significantly (p<0.05) with increased incubation period and difference was observed after 3, 6 and 24 hours incubation period. From the figure it was observed that at 24 hour incubations there was a significant difference in pH between different food supplements.
Rumen fluid pH
Dry Matter and Organic Matter and ash digestibility
There was no significant difference in DM, OM and ash digestibility among the different supplements, but a trend towards highest DM and OM digestibility was observed using supplements used 50 to 100 g dry neem leaves. Similarly, ash digestibility was higher 94.75% than DM and OM digestibility for all treatments (Table 4.3).
Treatments
CHAPTR FIVE DISCUSSIONS
- Growth performance and Feed conversion Efficiency of Sheep
- Faecal egg Counts (FEC) and FAMACHA estimations
- Carcass characteristics, internal and lymphoid organs of Sheep fed different dietary treatments
- Effect of neem leaves on meat quality
- Influence of dietary inclusion of neem leaf meal on in-vitro digestibility The sheep fed 50 to 100g neem foliage tended to highest DM and OM digestibility
Despite the superior nutritional quality of neem leaves, weight gain trends do not follow the increasing proportion of neem leaves in supplementary feed (T4) and this may be due to higher amount of fiber content and lower amount of CP content in T4 which may not be suitable to the activity of rumen microorganisms. Significant difference in FCR for treatments 2 and 3 followed by treatments 1 and 4 can be attributed to the numerically higher digestibility of neem leaves (Table 4.2) due to the lower amount of parasites in the rumen of sheep on that treatment. The mean FEC of the Neem-treated diet was almost the same for the entire group until day 14, after which EPG decreased rapidly in the Neem-treated group compared to those fed the control diet.
A study conducted by Khadijah et al., (2005) and Wong et al., (2005) on the use of fresh Neem and pelleted Neem did not observe any significant difference in the number of faecal eggs compared with the control sheep, although the control sheep had a higher average number of faecal eggs. In the present study, sheep fed dietary supplements using 50 to 100 mg of dry neem leaves had significantly (P<0.05) higher hot carcass percentage and numerically higher breast yield compared to those fed with other diets. This observation is comparable to Faji Dida et al., (2019) noted that sole leaf supplementation had higher dressing percentage than pigeon pea alone and mixture of neem leaves and pigeon pea.
The percentage of internal organs (liver, kidney, spleen) did not differ (P˃0.05) among the dietary treatments in this study similar to many researcher results (Ahamefule et al., 2006; Assefa., Kijora, Kehaliew, Bediye & Peters, 2008 and Freweini, 2014), who observed that the liver was not affected by neem leaves, which could be indicative of low levels of anti-nutritional compounds in the leaves used in the current study, which might otherwise have required the liver to grow in order to cope. detoxification. Water holding capacity (WHC) of meat is the important tool for evaluating meat quality for both the industry and the buyer (Modzelewska-Kapituła et al., 2015). The heme pigment and soluble flavor component in meat may be lost during loss of moisture from meat (Savage et al., 1990; Luciano et al., 2009). In the current study, neem leaf supplementation reduced drip loss and boiling loss compared to control. This result may be due to the presence of phenolic compounds in neem leaves. 2009) stated that neem are medicinal plants in disease prevention or control have been attributed to antioxidant properties of their constituents usually associated with a wide range of polyphenolic compounds.
The high dry matter digestibility of the sheep diet in the current study could be attributed to the ability of neem supplements to influence rumen microbes to increase digestion. Other studies showed a significant increase in dry matter digestibility among goats fed graded levels of cassava leaf meal with maize bran-based diets (Yousuf et al., 2007).
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
Recommendation
Use of Neem (Azadirachta indica) Seed Cake and its influence on nutrient digestibility in buffaloes. Azadirachta Indica Leaf Powder as an Effective Dye Biosorbent: A Case Study with Aqueous Congo Red Solutions. Studies on the biochemical constituents of blood with the inclusion of neem seed cake in the ration of milk Murrah buffaloes.
A study on the effect of feeding different levels of deoiled Neem fruit cake in the concentrate mixture on water consumption in lambs. Some effects of pasture management in early lactation and of top dressing on the growth and quality of pasture. Preliminary studies on the pattern and causes of guinea fowl (Numida melegris) Keet losses in Garu, Bawku East District.
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Effects of Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) forages on digestibility, rumen fermentation and nitrogen balance of goats fed maize silage. Studies on milk composition using Neem seed extract cake in lactating buffaloes. Proceedings, Food and Agriculture Organization Expert Consultation, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 1988) Studies on the nutritive value of agro-industrial by-products: Strategies for improving the utilization of cacaopod-based diets by ruminants.
Effect of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss. var. siamensis Valeton) foliage utilization in beef goat diets on rumen fermentation and productive performance.
BIOGRAPHY
