Aspects of teh bio-chemical compostion of Anthonotha macrophylla seeds

Anthonotha macrophylla (Beauv 1964), a member of the family Leguminosae, houses its seeds (Durubeans) in a pod, which are dispersed by explosive mechanism when they are matured. Each seed, when fresh, measures about 3 x 4 cm in size and weighs 30 gm on the average. The matured seeds used for this study were collected from the wild in Mbaitoli and Ngor Okpalla Local Government Areas of Imo State, Nigeria. They were desilted, chopped, milled, dried under the sun for 3 days to produce the meal. Samples of the meal were analysed in the laboratory for proximate and mineral composition while the oil from the seed was examined for its physical constants. The moisture content was 15.60±0.40% while crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash and nitrogen free extract values were 21.11 ± 1.30, 1.90 ± 0.40, 5.03 ± 0.30, 2.00 ± 0.31 and 54.36 ± 0.30% respectively. The oil gave iodine value of 1.013 ± 0.01%, free fatty acid 2.334 ± 0.04%, saponification value 5.394 ± 0.23%, un-saponifiable matter 8.33 ± 0.01% and refractive index of 1.472 ±0.07%. The mineral values stood at 7.00 ± 0.25, 3.96 ± 0.02, 12.80 ± 1.00, 7.85 ± 0.25, and 110.00 ± 3.10 mg/g for calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and phosphorus respectively. The results indicated that Anthonotha macrocphylla seed will be a good ingredient for monogastric animals feed production. Keywords : Chemical content, Anthonotha macrophylla seed, feed, monogastrics > Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 2 (4) 2006: pp. 217-220