The effect of processing on the nutritional value of guar meal for broiler chicks

Abstract

Guar meal contains two factors which are detrimental to the growth rate and food conversion of chicks. One of the factors is the trypsin inhibitor which can be destroyed by cooking the raw guar meal for a period of 1 hr at a temperature of 110° C. with the injection of super‐heated steam for a period of 15 min. after the cooker attains a temperature of 110°C. The second deterimental factor in guar meal is the guar gum which causes a depression in growth and sticky droppings when the total level of the gum in the diet exceeds 1.8 per cent. The usage of heated guar meal in chick diets is apparently limited by the gum content of the meal. Pectinase, an enzyme preparation added to a chick ration which contained 15 per cent processed guar meal, produced an increase in the weight gain of chicks fed the ration over those fed 15 per cent processed guar meal. Hypertrophy of the pancreas resulted in the chicks fed 20 and 30 per cent processed guar meal and in all groups fed raw guar meal.