A Comparison of Protein Fractions Prepared from Lima Beans ( Phaseolus lunatus ) in Starter Diets for Broiler Chicks

Ologhobo, A.D., Apata, D.F., Oyejide, A. and Akinpelu, RO. 1993. A comparison of protein fractions prepared from lima beans (Phaseolus lunatus)in starter diets for broiler chicks. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 4: 13–30. Diets containing 25% raw untreated lima beans (RLB) and lima bean protein fractions were fed to 360 broiler chicks in a four week feeding study. The process of fractionation was an efficient method of concentrating the antinutritional factors, especially trypsin inhibitors (TI) and heamaglutinins (Hg), which were highly localized in the base and acid soluble protein (BSP and ASP) fractions. Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were significantly (P<0.05) decreased in all dietary treatments except in birds fed aqueous heated lima beans (HLB). The BSP and ASP-based diets had much higher significant influences on all performance characteristics than any of the other dietary combinations. The principal effects of dietary lima beans on blood constituents were decreased red blood count, haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume and white blood cell count. Broiler chicks fed HLB diet had a higher white blood cell count than the other lima bean–fed chicks, primarily because of an increase in neutrophils; eosinophil numbers were depressed in BSP and ASP diets. Serum protein and albumin levels were significantly (P<0.05) lower in BSP and ASP diets than in RLB, base and acid insoluble residue and ether extracted meal diets whereas uric acid, urea and creatinine concentrations were increased There was a significant (P<0.05) correlation between Hand urea(r=0.59), between Hg and urea (r=0.70), between TI and creatinine (r=0.56) and Hg and creatinine (r=0.63). Tannin was not significantly correlated Serum enzyme activities showed significant (P<0.05) increase for all dietary treatments except HLB and soyabean diets.