NUCIS number 10. December 2001. 48 pages (full ... - IAMZ - ciheam

Figure 1. The inclusion of roasted carob pod pulp in the diet allows a reduction of
postweaning diarrhoea of piglets (adapted from Lizardo et al., 2002)
Prevalence of diarrhoea
100
75
50
25
0
100
Control
80,4
of antimicrobials as feed additives. According
to Loeb et al. (1989), the carob also
has some anti-diarrhoeic properties that
could contribute to avoid or reduce piglet
scours after weaning. The inclusion of carob
powder in antimicrobial and growth
promoter-free diets on the appearance of
diarrhoeas was also studied in experiments
conducted by Lizardo et al. (2002).
Despite not using growth promoters and
housing the piglets in a room that intentionally
had not been cleaned or disinfected
before introducing the animals, any
64,7
66,7
3% carob 5% carob 6% carob
symptoms of strong diarrhoea did appear
in case of the trial 1. In the second trial
(Lizardo et al. (2002) and experiment 3
(Lizardo et al., unpublished results), the
prevalence of post-weaning diarrhoea tended
to be lower with diets containing roasted
carob powder compared to the control
(Figure 1). In a similar experiment, piglet
mortality caused by oedema disease was
also reduced by the supply of a fibrous
diet containing carob and other tannin-rich
substances after weaning (Gutzwiller and
Jost, 1999). Thus, it appears that carob
tannins not only did not negatively affect
the performance but they also improve
health of piglets. In conclusion, it seems
that carob is suitable for pig feeding and
could be useful in supporting health and
growth performance after weaning.
RUMINANTS
Carob and its by-products are fibre-rich
feedstuffs and consequently seem more
suitable for ruminant than monogastric
feeding. However, information available
on the literature is relatively scarce. Replacement
of up to 25% of forage by carob
pulp in the diet did not reduce milk
production of dairy cows (Bonanno, 1986,
cited by Piccioni, 1986). However, the
substitution of up to 30% of crushed barley
by carob pod meal reduces, although
not significantly milk production and the
weight gain of goats during lactation (Louca
and Papas, 1973). These results
seem to indicate that females use, at least
partially their body reserves to compensate
the low energy content of carob pulp
and therefore, milk production is not affected.
The use of similar diets for Friesian
calves or growing kids showed that dietary
carob pulp had no depressing effects
on growth performance and carcass yield
if animals were capable of consuming
more feed to compensate the energy deficit
(Louca and Papas, 1973). Animals fed
on carob diets showed a poor feed conversion
ratio.
Table 1. The inclusion of carob pod pulp in diets for swine and its effects on feed intake and growth performance of postweaning
and growing-finishing pigs
Type of animal Diets Feed intake (g/d) Weight gain (g/d) Feed conversion References
Growing-finishing pigs Control 2096 611 3.43 Lanza et al., 1983
(25-100 kg bodyweight) 10% carob 2097 619 3.39 (a)
20% carob 2110 607 3.48
Weaning piglets Control 344 262 1.31 Piva et al., 1978
(5-12 kg bodyweight) 5% carob 346 287 1.21 (b)
10% carob 341 272 1.25
Postweaning piglets Control 626 321 1.95 Santi et al., 1987
(7-20 kg bodyweight) 1.25% carob 671 353 1.91 (c)
2.5% carob 627 345 1.82
Postweaning piglets Control 687 431 1.59 Lizardo et al., 2002
(7-23 kg bodyweight) 3% carob 683 441 1.55 Trial 1 (d)
Postweaning piglets Control 736 465 1.58
(7-27 kg bodyweight) 3% carob 749 460 1.63 Trial 2 (d)
6% carob 778 475 1.64
Postweaning piglets Control 435 321 1.36 Lizardo et al., (e)
(7-20 kg bodyweight) 5% carob 413 295 1.41 unpublished results
Replacement of maize by dried carob pod pulp and a total of 78 growing pigs were used in a 120-day trial. (b) Replacement of dextrose by dried carob pod pulp
and a total of 78 weaning piglets were used in a 25-day trial. (c)Replacement of dextrose by roasted carob pod pulp and a total of 100 weaning piglets were used
in a 42-day trial. (d) Replacement of dextrose in trial 1 and starch (3%) and milk whey (3%) in trial 2 by roasted carob pod pulp; Both trials last 35 days and a total
of 48 and 60 weaning piglets were used in trial 1 and 2, respectively. (e) Total replacement of sweet milk whey (5%) by roasted carob pod pulp and extreme piglet
diets (maize-soyabean); A total of 96 weaning piglets were used in a 35-day trial.
38 FAO-CIHEAM - Nucis-Newsletter, Number 10 December 2001