CRAMBE CAKE (Crambe abyssinica hochst) ON LAMB DIETS

The use of alternative feedstuffs in animal diet, such as residues derived from the biodiesel production aims to increase productivity and reduce costs in animal production. Them aim of this study was to evaluate the substitution effect of 0, 22, 44 and 64% of soybean meal protein by Crambe cake (Crambe abyssinica Hochst) protein in lamb diet. In the in vivo experiment, 20 lambs were used and evaluated the apparent digestibility, nitrogen balance and voluntary DM intake. The replacement of the protein resulted in a linear decrease in apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extract (EE), gross energy (GE), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), cellulose (CEL) and the percentage of total digestible nutrients (TDN), which resulted in decreased daily DM intake. The blood level of urea, glucose, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were not affected. In vitro gas production technique (GP) evaluation of diets showed a significantly decrease (P