E. Umapathy et al., Antinutritional factors in raw and heat-treated cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)and their effects on growth in weanling pigs, EAAP PUBLIC, (93), 1998, pp. 445-448
A total of 48 weanling piglets were divided into 4 groups and were fed diet
s containing either 30 % soya bean (T1) or 30 % heat-treated cowpea (T2) or
15 % heat-treated and 15 % raw cowpea (T3) or 30 % raw cowpea (T4) for 34
weeks. From week 18 the T4 group was subdivided into 4 groups which were fe
d either T1, T2, T3 or T4 until the end of the trial. Average daily gain (A
DG) was least in the T4 group (P < 0.01) possibly due to decreased feed con
sumption (P < 0.01). The level of anti-nutritional factors (ANF) in the die
ts were measured. The growth depression and poor health observed in the raw
cowpea-fed group could possibly be due to impaired digestibility attributa
ble to trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA), as TIA levels were high in the T4
diets. Feed consumption in T4 group was least and this may also have been d
ue to higher tannin levels in the T4 diets. The compensatory growth seen in
T4 piglets when fed on T1, T2 or T3 indicates that the antinutritional eff
ects induced by raw cowpeas are reversible.