Abstract

The study evaluates the efficacy of fungi (Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma longibrachitum) treated Jatropha curcas kernel cake in a mixed ration on percentage packed cell volume, red blood cell, white blood cell, haemoglobin, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, neutrophil, urea, creatinine, aspertate amino transferase, alanine phosphateses and alanine transference of goat. The West African dwarf goat (n = 15) were randomized against the experimental diets {(Diet A, control; B (50% soybean cake +50% A. niger treated Jatropha kernel cake); C (100% A. nigertreated J. curcas kernel cake); D (50% soybean cake + 50% T. longibrachiyum treated J. curcas kernel cake) and E (100% T. longibrachiyum treated J. curcas kernel cake)} in a completely randomized design model for a 70 day period. Feeding and watering were given freely throughout the study. Blood was collected from the goats every fortnightly at the jugular vein. The results revealed an increase in the creatinine content of the animals fed diets B and E compared to other diets. The urea content of the blood followed similar trend. Contrarily, the red blood cell was higher in control diet A and diet D. The packed cell volume ranged between 20 and 29%. Neutrophyl was significantly higher in diets B, C and D compared to diets A and E which are similar (p > 0.05). The positive presentations show that the fungi treated J. curcas kernel cake could have reduced most of the anti-nutrients, revealing that the biological processing of the cake is very promising.

Key words: Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma longibrachitum, Jatropha curcas kernel cake, blood parameters.