FEEDING VALUE OF LEAF MEAL FROM Alocasia macrorrhiza

The acrid leaf meal form Alocasia macrorrhiza (ALM) contained 244.1 g/kg of protein, 11.9 g/kg of lysine, 4.4 g/kg of methionine, 140.4 g/kg of crude fibre, and 4.92 MJ/kg of metabolizable energy(poultry, AME) on dry matter basis. The acridity of ALM was reduced considerably by treatment with acetone. The acetone-treated ALM(AALM) did not differ significantly from ALM in proximate composition, metabolizable energy and amino acid composition except for acridity. Two 3-week feeding experiments with starter broilers were conducted. Treatment for Experiment 1 consisted of a commercial basal diet (control) and four diets containing basal diet partially replaced by ALM at 40, 60, and by wheat bran at 40 and 60 g/kg respectively. Experiment 2, a control and a test diet supplemented with AALM free of acridity at 40 g/kg were used. The body weight gain of broilers fed ALM diets was reduced significantly against that of control and that of those fed bran diets ( P <0.01 ) because of their lower feed intake, but the performance of the birds fed AALM diet was not depressed ( P >0.05). These results indicated that the utilization of ALM by animals was limited by its acridity, but AALM free of acridity could be used as a feedstuff for animals.