Biological utilization of insect infested wheat stored in different storage structures

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) was stored in jute bag, peru, metal bin and polyethylene bag for 6 months. Infested wheat was fed to the rats for 40 days. Effect of incorporation of uninfested and infested wheat stored in different storage structure on feed intake, weight gain, feed efficiency ratio (FER), protein efficiency ratio (PER), biological value (BV), true protein digestibility (TPD), net protein utilization (NPU), net protein ratio (NPR) and weight of liver, kidney and spleen was observed. Inclusion of insect infested wheat stored in different storage structure had significant (P < 0.05) effect on the biological utilization of wheat protein. Diets prepared from wheat stored in jute bag and peru had significantly higher insect infestation which resulted in lower values for feed intake, weight gain, FER, PER, BV, TPD, NPU, NPR. Weight of liver, kidney and spleen also decreased as compared to the control diets and the diets prepared from wheat stored in metal bin and polyethylene bags.