Shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa) meal as a feed ingredient for poultry

Shea nut (Vitellaria paradoxa, Gaertner or Butyrospermum parkii, Kotschy) meal, a solid residue from the shea fat industry, is available in large quantities in West Africa. The meal is now receiving increased attention as a potential feed ingredient for poultry due to the increased amounts that are available due to high demand for shea fat in cosmetics and as a cocoa butter substitute in chocolate. Studies have shown nutrient compositions (g/kg dry matter basis) of crude protein (80–250), ether extract (17–362), crude fibre (53–138), ash (33–76) and nitrogen-free extract (318–675); probably with the major part of the variability being due to the amount of fat extraction, handling of the nuts prior to processing, or seasonal effects on nut production. Anti-nutritive factors reported include saponins (3.0-30.0 g/kg), tannins (98.7-156.4 g/kg) and theobromine (4.5 g/kg), which may have detrimental effects on performance of poultry. However, it has been shown that fermentation (i.e. wet incubation of a feedstuff) has the potential to reduce the negative effects of some of these anti-nutritive factors. It is evident that shea nut meal has low nutritive value; therefore it requires further improvements before it can become useful for the poultry feed industry.