Gut morphometric and duodenal histologic changes caused by dietary inclusions of different plant species in leaf...

Leaf meals are a good potential alternative feed source for livestock production. However, this is limited by the presence of antinutritional components that must be regulated before inclusion in animal diets.

This study evaluated the gut morphometric and duodenal histological morphometric parameters of local rabbits fed a diet that included various leaf meals.

The local rabbits were aged between 6 and 7 weeks and had an average weight of 900 grams, were placed on five diets [D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5] containing 0% NLM (no leaf meal), 6% TDLM (Tithonia diversifolia leaf meal), 6% PBLM (Parkia biglobosa leaf meal), 6% SNLM (Synedrella nodiflora leaf meal), and 6% LMM (2% TD + 2% PB + 2% SN leaf meal mixture). The diets were arranged in a completely randomized design with five treatments, three replicates, and nine animals per replicate for 56 days. Data collected on gut morphometry were subjected to one-way analysis of variance.

The results indicated that the length of the small intestine significantly (p < 0.05) increased in rabbits fed TDLM (273.00 cm) and LMM (273.00 cm), while the lowest value was observed in rabbits fed NLM (235.50 cm). The lengths and weights of the ceca were similar for the NLM, SNLM, and LMM groups but significantly (p < 0.05) different from those of rabbits fed TDLM and PBLM groups, which were also comparable. The duodenal histological results demonstrated that intestinal tissues were moderately affected by the inclusion of leaf meals in the diets.

In conclusion, leaf meal inclusion in the diet enhances gut morphometry and development. However, leaf meal inclusion must be controlled and adequately processed to avoid negative health implications on the rabbits based on the observed mild necrosis on the mucosal epithelial cells.