ABSTRACT

Weaning diets were formulated using bambara groundnut and sorghum (30:70 ratio) given different processing treatments. The diets were-malted bambara groundnut + unmalted sorghum ( Ration A); malted bambara groundnut + malted sorghum (Ration B); unmalted bambara groundnut + unmalted sorghum (RationC); unmalted bambara groundnut + unmalted sorghum + papain (RationD); malted sorghum + unmalted bambara groundnut (RationF); control (10% casein +cornstarch) (RationE) Preliminary experiments were carried out to determine the optimal period of germination for improving the protein content of bambara groundnut and sorghum. Proximate composition of the malted and unmalted bambara groundnut and sorghum were also determined. For nutritional evaluation studies, 10% diets were prepared from the composite blends and used for animals feeding experiments. Results of preliminary experiment indicated that both bambara groundnut and sorghum had their optimal protein levels when germinated for about 72 hour. Malting significantly (P < 0.08) improved the protein and ash contents of bambara groundnuts. Nutritional evaluation studies showed that Ration B gave the highest weight gain and PER (2.72) in experimental animals and compared favourably with the control. The papain treated sample (RationD) also gave good results (PER 2.6). Sensory evaluation indicated that Ration B compared favourably with the control in terms of flavor, colour and overall acceptability.