The Horsebean (Vicia faba L.) as a Vegetable Protein Concentrate in Chick Diets

THE horsebean (Vicia faba L.) is grown in many countries including some countries in Europe, the Near East and North Africa. Where grown, it is commonly used as a food for man and as feed for livestock, mostly cattle and horses The horsebean seed has been reported to have an approximate analysis of 25–27 percent crude protein, 1.1–1.6 percent crude fat, and 7.1–9.2 percent crude fiber (Schneider, 1947; Brisson et al., 1950; Morrison, 1956). Determinations by Mahon and Common (1950) have indicated that horsebean protein is relatively deficient in methionine and cystine, and deficient to a lesser degree in tryptophan, glycine, phenylalanine, and threonine. Borchers and Ackerson (1950) noted that autoclaving improved the nutritive value of horsebeans as measured by rat growth and gain per unit of feed, but Nikolaiczuk et al. (1948) concluded that the small growth response of chicks attributable to the autoclaving of the…