Physical and chemical properties of cocoa (Theobroma cacao) and palm kernel cake (Elaeis guineensis) by-products

Abstract

The raw materials used for animal feed are traditionally cereal crops and forage grasses that compete with the cultivation of feed for humans, so it is important to identify nonconventional food sources to reduce competition. This study determined the physical and chemical properties of two agro-industrial by-products, palm kernel cake (PKC) (Elaeis guineensis) and Theobroma cacao husk (CPH), to identify their potential as a resource for animal feed, and which were compared with forage samples collected from the pasture. The study was carried out in five municipalities of the Amazonia region, 120 samples were collected for chemical analysis where dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent lignin (ADL), cellulose, hemicellulose, ethereal extract (EE), ash and in vitro degradability of DM (IVDDM), organic matter digestibility (OMD), total digestible nutrients (TDN), digestible energy (DE) and metabolic energy (ME) were estimated. Subsequently, statistical analysis was carried out using ANOVA with the comparison of means by means of Fisher's LSD test by means of a general linear and mixed model, and principal component analysis. The species that presented the highest contents of CP was PKC (13.47±0.36), followed by grasses (6.19±0.26) and CPH (4.65±0.27), including the variable of EE, which is why its implementation is recommended in ruminant and non-ruminant animal production systems due to its availability and low utilization.