Resource Management and Rural Development Prececal and cecal in-vitro digestibility of tropical legume grains for pig nutrition

Introduction In rural areas of many tropical countries, pig production is a livelihood for smallholder farmers, who use the pigs as sources of income and food. The benefit of this livelihood is sometimes limited by high costs or the absence of balanced commercial diets, which often results in preparing diets with ingredients low in protein but high in fibre (e.g. banana, harvest by-products) (Peters et al., 2006). Thus, we investigated the use of alternative local ingredients such as legume grains, which could be an interesting source of protein as well as starch, vitamins and minerals (D'Mello, 1995). The nutritional value of legume grains is highly dependent upon their antinutritional components (e.g. trypsin and α-amylase inhibitors), resistance of their proteins to breakdown and the limitation in sulphur-amino acids and tryptophan. Therefore, in the present work the nutritional characterisation of raw tropical legume grains (Vigna unguiculata, Lablab purpureus, Canavalia brasiliensis) was studied in terms of chemical composition, in-vitro protein and starch digestibility and in-vitro fibre fermentation.