THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT PROCESSING METHODS OF VELVET BEANS (Mucuna pruriens) ON L-DOPA CONTENT, PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND BROILER CHICKEN PERFORMANCE

Recurrent droughts and soil degradation have had an adverse impact on food security and have increased malnutrition in Zambia. This has necessitated the promotion of conservation farming and diversification of food production. Velvet beans (Mucuna pruriens) is a crop that offers excellent soil conditioning properties and produces large quantities of beans of high protein and energy content. However, the beans contain antinutrients, particularly L-Dopa, that limit their use as a food or feed in humans and non-ruminant animals. Thus, this study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of several preparation methods on the reduction of L-Dopa, on proximate composition, and on the performance of broiler chickens consuming the processed beans.