Effect of tamarind seed on nutrient utilization in pigs

A 91 day trial was conducted to see the effect of tamarind seed based diet on the growth performance of indigenous pigs. Piglets (18; 4–5 m old) randomly divided into three equal groups were offered control diet (TS₀), or 50 and 100% maize in TS₀ diet was replaced by tamarind seed (TS₃₀ and TS₆₀), respectively. Final body weight and total weight gain was higher (P<0.05) in TS₀ and TS₃₀ groups than TS₆₀ group. Similarly better feed conversion efficiency was recorded in TS₀ (4.63:1) and TS₃₀ (4.93:1) groups in comparison to TS₆₀ (5.43:1) group. The replacement of maize with tamarind seed had no influence on digestibility of OM, DM, EE and NFE. The digestibility of CP was higher (P<0.05) in TS₀ (88.54%) and TS₃₀ (83.91%) than TS₆₀ (80.93%), where as that of CF was higher in TS₆₀ (44.59%) than TS₀ (29.66%). There was no effect of diet on N, Ca, and P retention and all the animals were in positive balances. Final body weight and total weight gain were higher (P<0.05) in T₁ and T₂ group than that of T₃ group. Similarly better FCE was recorded in T₁ (4.63 3:1) and T₂ (4.93:1) groups in comparison to T₃ (5.43:1) group. It was concluded that maize in the diet of piglets could be safely replaced upto 50% by tamarind seed.