Nutrtional and Phytochemical Characterstics of Fruits and Vegetable Wastes as Livestock Feed: A Case Study in Gamo Zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Fruit and vegetable producers were creating a large amount of waste in homes, cafeterias, and agroprocessing units. The majority of this waste is composted and disposed in landfills and waterways. Recycling these wastes as animal feedstuffs will lessen food-feed competition and minimize environmental hazards. This study was carried out in the Gamo zone of southern Ethiopia, in the heart of the southern rift valley, to ascertain the nutritional profiles of fruit and vegetable by-products in relation to livestock feed potentials. All fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) samples were collected from homes, marketing facilities, restaurants, and waste disposal facilities. Proximate, detergent fiber component, minerals, and antinutritional factors were among the analyses performed on the collected samples. The results showed that, highest CP values recorded from banana leaf, 15.8 ± 0.8 (%DM) followed by avocado peel (14 ± 0.8) among fruit by-products and that of highest values of vegetable components were obtained from Moringa oleifera strip (20.6 ± 1.25) sweet potato (18.5 ± 1.55), respectively. The highest ME (MJ/kg DM) contents obtained from avocado and mango by-products among fruit wastes, while that of highest values recorded for cassava and potato peel (12.2 ± 0.4) and (11.3 ± 0.1) among vegetable components, respectively. The antinutrients included in FVW, namely, tannin, oxalate, and phytate, did not exceed the maximum permissible level for animal needs, which is less than 5% of DM. The macro- and micromineral profiles of these by-products also show encouraging results that contribute to maintaining the mineral needs of farm animals. FVW can be a viable and alternative source of supplemental feed for farm animals that primarily rely on low-quality natural pasture and crop residues, and can partially replace more expensive feedstuffs and their efficient reuse would minimize environmental impacts associated with the disposal of such wastes.