Southern Regional Station, National Dairy Research Institute, Bangalore-560030, India.
Online published on 5 January, 2012.
Three concentrate mixtures E1, E2 and E3 prepared by incorporating cocoa pod shells (20%), cocoa husk (30%) and cocoa pod shells + cocoa husk (20% each) respectively, were compared with a conventional concentrate mixture (C) by feeding to four groups of bullocks. The DCP content of mixtures C, E1, E2 and E3 was 14.00, 11.11, 12.81 and 11.51% respectively. The corresponding mixtures had 79.50, 58.35, 66.16 and 61.28% TDN. The DCP and TDN contents of experimental groups were lower (P<0.05). Inclusion of cocoa byproducts as ingredient of concentrate diet reduced the cost from Rs. 217 to Rs. 175 per 100 kg. However, factors responsible for repressing digestibility of nutrients by cocoa byproducts need further study.
