The Nutritional Value of Autoclaved and Ammonia Treated Winged Beans [Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) Dc.] for Japanese Quail

Abstract

Winged beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) contained 6.25% moisture, 35% crude protein, 19.13% lipid, and 4.45% ash. The amino acid profile was determined and methionine was found to be the most limiting. The nutritional value of autoclaved untreated and ammonia treated winged beans was evaluated for growth of Japanese quail or Tribolium castaneum larvae. Beans were ground and a portion was treated with ammonia. The remaining untreated beans and the ammonia-treated beans were autoclaved at 118 C for 30 min and incorporated into diets that supplied 24% protein for quail and 16% protein for tribolium. The quail and tribolium consuming the winged bean diet supplemented with an additional .5% methionine grew as well as on the soybean control. The winged beans treated with ammonia were growth depressing. No significant differences in apparent metabolizable energy, feed conversion, or apparent nitrogen retention were observed for any of the treatments. Quail consumed significantly less ammonia-treated winged bean diet and had significantly larger pancreati and livers.