Macroarchitecture of digestive organs in rabbits fed with varying levels of moringa (Moringa oleifera) forage meal

Main Article Content

Y. Caro
Daymara Bustamante
L. E. Dihigo
J. Ly

Abstract

Gastrointestinal morphology indices in 24 White New Zealand rabbits were examined, with an average weight of 2.0 kg, fattened ad libitum and randomly with varying levels (0.15 and 30 %) of moringa (Moringa oleifera) forage meal. There was not significant effect (P > 0.05) of the treatment on the relative content of fresh digesta (average, 116.7 g/kg live weight). The weight of the entire empty digestive tract seemed to slightly decrease in a significant way (R2, 0.884, P <0.040) with the introduction of moringa forage in the food (80.6, 79.8 and 76.1 g/kg live weight). There was not significant interdependence (P> 0.05) between the relative weight of fresh digesta and the tract of the evaluated rabbits. The moringa forage determined a longer small intestine (P <0.05) with a lower linear density (P> 0.10). It is concluded that the use of moringa forage meal to fatten rabbits can determine few changes in the gastrointestinal macroarchitecture of the animals.
Key words: rabbits, gastrointestinal tract, digestive organs, digesta

Article Details

How to Cite
Caro, Y., Bustamante, D., Dihigo, L. E., & Ly, J. (2018). Macroarchitecture of digestive organs in rabbits fed with varying levels of moringa (Moringa oleifera) forage meal. Cuban Journal of Agricultural Science, 52(4). Retrieved from https://cjascience.com/index.php/CJAS/article/view/829
Section
Animal Science

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 > >>