Journal of Applied Animal Research

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Nutritive Values of Some Tropical (West African)

Legumes for Poultry

Anthony D. Ologhobo

To cite this article: Anthony D. Ologhobo (1992) Nutritive Values of Some Tropical (West
African) Legumes for Poultry, Journal of Applied Animal Research, 2:2, 93-104, DOI:
10.1080/09712119.1992.9705938

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J. Appl. Anim. h e . 2 (1992)93-104

Nutritive Values of Some Tropical (West

African) Legumes for Poultry
Anthony D. Ologhobo
Department of Animal Science
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

(Received May 18, 1992; accepted September 20, 1992)

Abstract
An experiment was conducted to establish the effect of increasing the dietary
amounts of jackbeans, kidneybeam, limabeans, yambeans, pigeon peas and
bambara groundnuts on the performance of broiler chickens. The inclusion of
legumes even at 12.5% level resulted in signijkant decreases in weight gains
and feed intakes. The amount of feed consumed (ks;, per kg weight gain for
broilers offered diets containing 12.5% lima beans, pigeon pea and 12.5 or 25%
bambara bean or yam bean did not differ signijicantly from control group.
Inclusion of jack bean and kidney bean at both the levels and lima bean or
pigeon pea at 25% level adversely affected the effi.ciency of feed conversion. The
weights of liver and brain were significantly (P<0.05)altered by higher levels
of dietary treatments. Serum total protein and albumin levels generally
decreased with 25% legume concentration in the diets but urea and creatinine
levels increased Transaminase and phosphatase enzyme activities were
genemlly elevated on higher level of legume feeding. Thus only pigeon pea and
bambam nut can be recommended for inclusion in poultry rations. But vigil is
needed if it is proposed to be fed over a longer period
Key words : Legumes, feeds, broilers, performance
Introduction
Legume seeds are important sources of supplementary protein in cereal-based
diets for poultry, but their use has almost disappeared because of their
increasing importance in human diets and an increase in the supply of

93

J. Appl. Anim. h e . 0971-2119~5.00

0 GSP, India
94 A. D.Ologhobo

protein-rich products from oilseed crops. Moreover, even when legumes are
available, their well known toxic effects on poultry, restrict their inclusion in
poultry diets. Indeed, several studies (Aletor, 1984; Wyss and Bickel, 1988
and Ologhobo and Apata, 1990) have reported on the toxic effects of
limabeans, kidneybeans and jackbeans when ingested in the raw state.
In the present study six legumes, Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis),
Lima bean (Phuseolus lunatus), Kidney bean (Phuseolus vulgaris), Yam bean
(Sphemstylis s t e m u p a ) , Bambara nut (Voandzeia subterranea) and pigeon
pea (Cajanus cujan), cultivated in tropical West Africa, were evaluated in an
experiment with broiler chicks, with respect to the performance of chicks and
arty toxic effect of diet on chicks.
M a t e r i a l s and Methods
The diet of animals in control group consisted of maize (55.90/s), soyabean
meal (28.9%), fish meal (3.5?40), blood meal (5.0%), brewer's dried grains
(5.0??),bone meal (2.5%), common salt (0.5%), vitamidmineral mixture (0.5%)
and methionine (0.3%:.
Six different legumes (jackbean, kidneybean, limabean, pigeon pea,
bambara nut and yambean), replaced soyabean meal at 12.5 or 25% level in
diets for broiler chickens with minor adjustment in ingredients to keep the
diets isonitrogenous (22.6-23.3Yo CP) and isocaloric (12.4-12.7 MJ Kg-' ME).
The chemical composition of the legumes are given in Table 1.
Five hundred and twenty, 7-day-oldbroiler chicks (hubbard strain) were
ranked by weight, wingbanded and randomly allocated to thirteen dietary
treatments. Each gmup of 40 birds was further subdivided into five replicates
and raised in pens, approximately 2.5m2, with free access to feed and water
until seven weeks of age. The broilers received diets containing 23 and 19%
crude protein in the periods 1-4and 5-7 weeks, respectively. Dietary energy
concentrations were maintained at approximately 12.5 MJ metabolizitble
energy kg-' throughout the experiment. Feed consumption, weight gain, feed
efficiency and mortality rates were used as measures of broiler performance.
At the end of six weeks, metabolic studies were conducted for seven days
before the experiment was terminated.
Blood samples for haematological examination and enzyme assay were
withdrawn from birds by cardiac puncture. Organ weights were determined
in a random sample of birds (10%) from each experiment at the completion of
the experiment. Samples of legumes, diets and excreta were analyzed for
chemical composition by the AOAC (1975) methods. Amino acid compositions
were determined after acid hydrolysis by ion exchange chromatography. The
metabolizable energy values. of the legumes ;md diets were estimated
 Legumes as feed for poul t y 95

according to Janssen et al. (1982). The levels of serum total protein (Colowick
and Kaplan, 1955), serum albumin @oumas and Biggs, 1972), serum urea
(Fawcett and Scott, 1966), uric acid (Searcy, 1969) and creatinine (Scott,
1965)were estimated. For enzymatic analyses, hepatic alanine and aspartate
aminotransferases were evaluated by the method of Reitman and Frankel
(1957), alkaline phosphatase by the method of Frajola et al. (1965) while
Gammaglutamyltransferase was determined by the colorimetric method of
Szasz (1969).
The data collected were subjected t o analysis of variance and the means
separated by multiple range tests (Snedecor and Cochran, 1967).
Results and Discussion
The chemical composition data (Table 1) underscore the importance of
legumes as sources of protein and energy for farm animals. The crude fibre
content in jackbean, though higher than the level encountered in many
legumes, has been reported to have no adverse effect on nutrient digestibility
in chicks (D'Mello, 1982). The amino acid concentration of the legumes was
similar to the values reported by others (Fetuga et al., 1974, Apata, 1989).
These legumes appear to contain adequate amounts of amino acids except the
sulphur containing ones, viz. methionine and cystine. Several other legumes,
most notably soyabean (Ologhobo, 1989), cowpea (Aletor, 1984) and faba
beans (Marquardt and Campbell, 1974) are also deficient in these sulphur
containing amino acids. All diets in the current experiment contained a
supplement of DL-methionine.
The upper limit of the dietary concentrations of raw legumes used in this
study (250g/kg diet), may seem extreme but this was done to magnify any
effect of antinutritional factors and t o reduce interacting influences from
maize and soyabean meal. Generally feed intakes, weight gains and feed
conversion efficiencies (Table 2) of the control and 12.5% legume-fed birds
were better than those of birds fed on 25% legumes, clearly demonstrating the
detrimental effects of raw legumes at this concentration. In the absence of
methionine deficiency, the presence of antinutritional factors (Liener, 1988)
and low protein digestibility (Friedman and Gumbmann, 1986), are the main
reasons claimed to explain the growth depression of birds fed raw legumes.
However, chicks given pigeon pea, bambara nut and yam bean even at 25%
dietary level gave comparable feed conversion eFficiencies to the soyabean
control diet. This response may be attributed to the low levels oi
antinutritional factors in these legumes. Savage et al. (1986) and Oke (1987)
haveereported on the suitability of pigeon peas and bambara nuts as dietary
ingredients for poultry and Askbran and Hankasson (1984) mentioned that
pigeon pea compares favourably with soyabean in metabolizable energy.
 Table 1
Chemical compositionof legumes
Proximate (g kg-'DM) Jack Kidney Lima Pigeon Bambara Yam
bean bean bean pea nut bean
Ash 30.2 41.7 39.8 39.2 38.1 40.6
Crude protein 277.5 224.6 225.3 226.9 214.5 237.9
Ether extract 25.4 17.1 16.7 27.1 63.9 27.9
Crude fibre 95.2 44.3 48.4 44.7 34.0 48.7
Metabolizable energy (MJ kg-') 11.3 11.5 10.2 10.8 11.0 11.4
Amino acids (g. 16gN")
p
Isoleucine 5.2 5.5 5.2 4.0 4.1 4.5 D
Leucine 9.1 8.4 8.5 8.0 7.6 7.5 0
Lysine 6.6 7.4 6.7 6.3 6.7 8.0 F
Op
Methionine 1.5 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.1 z
8
Cystine 0.9 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.5 2.0
Tyrosine 4.2 4.1 3.7 3.8 3.4 4.5
Phenylalanine 6.0 5.5 6.7 8.3 5.5 5.5
Threonine 4.4 4.8 4.3 3.9 3.5 4.1
Tryptophan 1.0 1.2 -1.1 0.9 1.2 1.2
Valine 5.9 6.1 5.8 5.2 4.9 5.6
Aspartic acid 13.5 2.4 12.4 11.0 1.0 10.5
Glutamic acid 14.8 14.0 16.9 16.8 16.9 14.4
Alanine 5.0 4.4 5.6 5.8 4.4 4.5
Arginine 6.9 5.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.1
Glycine 4.6 4.9 5.5 4.0 3.7 4.3
Histidine 4.5 2.9 2.7 3.0 3.1 4.2
Serine 7.0 5.1 6.0 4.5 4.7 5.4
 Table 2
Performance and nutrient utilization by broilers fed raw legume-based diets.
Jack Kidney Lima Pigeon Bambara Yam
bean bean bean bean bean bean
Parameters Control SEM
12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 26.0 12.5 25.0

Feed intake(kg) 2.1a 1Sb 1.2' 1.7b 1.2' 1.7b 1.0' 2.0a 1.7b 2.0a 1.7b lBab 1.7b 0.4 6
a
2
Body weight gain(kg) O.ga 0.6' 0.4d 0.6 0.3d 0.6' 0.3d OBab 0.6' O B b 0.6' O B b 0.6' 0.2 P
3
Feed conversion 2.3" 2.gb 3.4b 2.gb 4.6a 2Bb' 4.6a 2.5' 2.gb 2.5' 2BbC2.3' 2SbC 0.8 ti
efficienc (kg 3
feed-kg-Pgain) %
Mortality (Yo) 0.5e 7.0b16.0a 8.0b 17.0a 8.0b 17.0a 3.0d 5.0" 2.0d 4.0' 6.0' 10.Ob 5.6
8
Protein efficiency 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.5 0.2
ratio
Nitrogen retention 8.0' 6.6ab4.7C 5.gb 4.5' 6.3ab 4.2' 7.0a 5BbC7.6a 5.6b' 6.ga 5.5bC 1.1
( g .N/bird/day)

a ' eMeans within a row with different superscripts are significantly different (P < 0.05)
 W
00
Table 3
Organ weights as influenced by dietary raw legumes (To body weight)

Jack Kidney Lima Pigeon Bambara Yam

bean bean bean bean bean bean
Organs Control - _ _ ~ SEM
12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0

Liver 3.35b 2.70" 2.26a 2.88ab 2.40" 2.80ab 2.35a 3.15b 3.10b 3.25b 3.06ab 2.90ab 2.60a 1.40
Pancreas 0.32bC0.36b 0.5a 0.36b 0.48" 0.3gb 0.55a 0.29' 0.33bC0.32bC0.35b 0.3Ob' 0.37b 0.08
Kidneys 0.62b 0.60b 0.91" 0.5gb 0.83ab0.60b 1.10" 0.58b 0.64b 0.60b 0.65b 0.60b 0.95a 0.17
E
Spleen 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.08 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.08 0.13 0.10 0.08 0.11 0.12 0.01
8
Heart 0.41 0.50 0.52 0.40 0.45 0.37 0.47 0.40 0.39 0.38 0.41 0.44 0.50 0.05
Lungs 0.04 0.07 0.08 0.04 0.07 0.09 0.09 0.04 0.04 0.07 0.03 0.06 0.05 0.02
Brain 1.05" 1.10" 1.66' 0.98ab 1.45' 1.12" 1.80' 1.20"' 1.40"' 1.00" 1.48' 0.90b 1.78' 0.32

"' eMeans within a row with different superscripts are significantly different (P <0.05)
 Table 4
Effect of dietary raw legumes on serum metabolites

Jack Kidney Lima Pigeon Bambara Yam

Parameters Control bean bean bean bean bean bean
~ _ _ ~~

SEM !2
(mg/lOOml) 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 3
c
3

0
Total 5.6' 5.0bC 4.3ab 5.4' 4.0a 4.8b 3.7a 5.2' 5.0bC 4.gb 4.7b 4Ab 4.1" 0.56 3
;e
protein
P
Albumin 2.8' 2.5' l.gb 2.2bC 1.7b 2.2bC 1.6b 2.6' 2.4bc 2.3b' 2.0b 2.1b l.gb 0.35 3
%
Urea 2.2a 15.7b 19.1' 3.0a 21.5' 5.0ab20.6' 3.0a 15.3b 14.4ah17.E1~'15.2b 20.8' 3.18 3

Creatinine 0.7b 0.Sb 2.0" l.Oa 1.7d l.Obc 2.1" 0.7b 1.1' 0.6b 1.2' l.Obc lBd 0.49
__ - ~ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ~
a h c
Means within a row with different superscripts are significantly different (P < 0.05)

(0
(0
 Table 5
Serum enzyme activity in broilers fed raw legume diets
-
Jack Kidney Lima Pigeon Bambara YEUll
bean bean bean bean bean bean
Parameters Control ~ _ _ - SEM
12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0 12.5 25.0

Alanine 68.4d 70.5d 121.6b 75.4" 133.3ab 80.f1~ 141.2" 70.7" 85.6Cd '70.7d 95.5' 81.3d 113.8& 24.8
aminotrans-
ferase (IU/L)
Aspartate 68.2' 79.8' 136.5cd 83.6b 140.5cd 80.8ab151.5" 67.7a 80.0ab 72.3' 90.0b 80.0ab128.9' 30.3
aminotrans-
ferase (IU/L)
Alkaline 85.gd 120.7' 240.0" 113.4' 199.7b 118.5' 229.6" 90.0d 160.0b 98.3cd 177.3b 100.2ad216.4' 56.4
phosphatase
(u/L)
Gamma 50.7' 73.6b 115.8' 70.4b 112.5 67.7ab 104.7' 54.4a 80.0b 60.6' 87.2b 65.5ab 96.3' 21.7
glutamyl-
transferase
(a)
a h c d
Means within a row with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)
IU/L - International unitditre
u/L - mole/min/litre
 Legumes as feed for poultry 101

However, when higher concentrations of peas are included, some researchers

have reported adverse effects on chick growth (Zorita et al., 1970) and egg
shell quality (Anderson, 1979).
The results show that by increasing dietary concentration of beans
beyond 12.5%, weights of organs (liver, pancreas, kidney and brain) were
significantly (R0.05) altered; this being particularly obvious for kidney bean,
jackbean and limabean (Table 3). The toxicity of beans for poultry, mainly
caused by tannins (Newton and Hill, 1983) and haemagglutinins (Aletor,
1984) is well documented. Canavalin, a non protein amino acid present in raw
jackbean is also known to be highly toxic, inducing total mortality in quail
within a period of a few days (Jape-William, 1973). Laying hens are reported
to be more tolerant, although even in these animals, egg production is
severely curtailed by the inclusion of 20%jackbean in the diet (Herrera et al.,
1981).The inclusion of 25Vo jackbean, kidney bean or lima bean in the present
study caused 16 to 17% mortality and most of the surviving chickens were
weak, lethargic and anorexic and they tended to wander about aimlessly.
Serum metabolites (Table 4) and enzyme assay (Table 5) indicated
significant (Pc0.05) alterations in birds fed on diets containing 25% jackbean,
kidneybean, limabean and yambean. Serum protein and albumin levels
decreased while serum urea and creatinine levels increased. These results
agree with those of Sathyamoorthy et aZ. (1981), who reported increase in
serum urea and creatinine levels in rats fed kidney bean. Aletor and Fetuga
(1985) have shown that the urea cycle enzymes (arginase, glutaniic
dehydrogenase and arginosuccinate lyase) are the major enzymes whose
malfunctioning result in elevated urea levels. Increase in liver and serum
transaminase activities are indicators of liver damage @osalki and Wilkiron
1976) and the significant (Pc0.05) increase in the activities of these enzymes
with jackbean, kidneybean, limabean and yambean, indicates the toxic nature
of these beans in the raw state. Although the nutritive value of beans may be
improved by heat treatment (Aguilera et aL, 1984), the cost is a constraint
when their value is compared to that of soyabean meal.
From a nutritional point of view, only pigeon pea and bambara nut are
comparable with soyabean meal as an ingredient in poultry diets. However,
attention should be paid to the inclusion rate and the possible cumulative
toxic effects if used over a long period of time.
Acknowledgements
This work is part of an on-going research project supported by a grant from
the International Foundation for Science, Sweden. The technical assistance of
Dr.David Apata is highly appreciated.
102

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