High quality cassava peel® production and its utilization in pig production: A review

Abstract

The cassava peel has been investigated as a good source of energy for various categories of livestock and it has been reported as a good substitute for maize for all classes of pigs. International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has transformed fresh cassava peels into high quality, safe and hygienic livestock feed, known as High Quality Cassava Peel^®. High Quality Cassava Peel^® was produced by sorting, grating, pressing, sieving and drying of fresh cassava peels. Sorting of the fresh (harvested the same day) cassava peels was done by removal of the stumps, large sized woody tubers and other foreign materials before grating, to gradually reduce the particle size, ensure rapid dewatering, drying and easy handling of the sorted peels. Next is the pressing of the grated peels in woven bags using a hydraulic jack and wooden planks. The resultant cassava peel cake after pressing around 30- 35% moisture had shelf life of 5- 7 days. The pressed cassava peel cake was re-grated to loosen it into a free flowing material that can be subjected to sieving to separate the fine mash (lower fiber, high energy content) from the coarse mash (higher fiber, lower energy  content). The resultant fine or coarse mash was further dried by toasting or sun-drying to a moisture level of 10-12%. The final product with 10–12% moisture content was bagged and stored safely for 4- 6 months without any spoilage. Proximate analysis of the HQCP® further clarified its quality over that of other processed cassava peels. Series of trials conducted have proved High Quality Cassava Peel as a good substitute for significant portion of maize in the diet of growing and weaned pigs without any adverse effect on the performance and blood parameters determined in each of the studies. The results of the studies conducted on the utilization of the high quality cassava peel as a substitute for maize in the diet of weaned and growing pigs have shown the efficacy of HQCP^® to replace significant quantities of maize in their diet. High Quality Cassava Peel demonstrated potential for replacement of up to 15% of the 40% maize inclusion in the diet of weaned pigs and 30% in the diet of growing pigs with or without direct fed microbial (DFM) supplementation. No significant effect of DFM was noticed in the utilization of HQCP® by both weaned and growing pigs. All the hematological and serum biochemical parameters determined were within the normal range for healthy pigs. Based on the outcome of the feeding trials, HQCP^® has been proved to replace a substantial portion of maize in the diet of weaned and growing pigs, thereby bringing about a
decrease in the cost of production.

Keywords: High quality cassava peel^®, weaned and growing pig feeding, growth performance, direct fed microbial, hematology, serum biochemical parameters