.

411i1nalF~cdSciencea,ld TecknologJJ, 35 (1991) 161-169 161

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam

Chemical composition of cocoa pod husk and its

effect on growth and food efficiency in broiler
chicks

A. Donkoh”,‘, CC. Atuahene”, B.N. Wilson” and D. Adomakob

“..Inirnal Science Depanm.wr, Oniwrsiry of Scicnw and Technology, Kuinasi. Ghana
bCocoa Research Insrrr~ne. P.O. BLY 8. T*_lo, Ghana
(Received 6 August 1990: accepted I6 March 1991)

ABSTRACT

Donkoh, A., Atuahene, C.C.. Wilson, B.N. and Adomako, D.. 1991. Chemical composition ofcacoa
pod husk and its effect on growth and food efftciency in hroilzr chicks. Anim. Feed Sci. Tecknol.,
35: 161-169.

Cocoa pod husk (CPH ) contained (8 kg-’ dry matter) 76.6 crude protein, 43.1 ether extract. 325
crude fibre, IO
I ash, 414 acid detergent tibre, 522 neutral detergent tibre and I08 hemicellulare. The
metabolizabk energy content was 4.72 MJ kg-‘. In comparison with maize, CPH contained less amino
acids, except lysine. In a feeding trial, five diets conteinin:. C. SG, itlO, i 50 and 200 g CPH kg-‘, with
maize sod fi;Lmeai as major Ingredients, were given ad libitum to 450 I-week-old broiler chicks (AF
Bosbek strain) for 7 weeks. Birds had free access to water. Addition of graded levels ofCPH broiler
diets increased food intake by nearly 60% for the highest level of inclusion (r=0.97), reduced growth
(r=-0.85) and hence reduced efficiency of food utilization compared with the control (rc0.96).
Cocoa husk-fed birds consumed more wager with a trend toward increased water consumption with
each increment of CPH (rx0.99). High negative correlation (I= -0.85) WBSobserved between the
ccncentration of CPH in the diet and carcass dressing percentage. There were no deaths attributable
to CPH in the diet.

INTRODUCTION

The shortage of conventional feed resources is a major constraint for in-

creased productivity of livestock and poultry in developing countries. Hence,
a search for unconventional feeds has become necessary. One such feed is
cocoa pod husk (CPH), a by-product obtained after the removal of the cocoa
beans from the fruit. The husk consiitutes about 75% of the whole fruit
(Oyenuga, 1955). In Ghana, large quantities of CPH are produced annually
and generally go to waste. It is generally considered a potential feedstuff for

‘Present address: Animal Science Depanment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New
Zealand.

0377-8401/91/$03.50 Q 199 I Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All t’ighls reserved.

animals. Its inclusion in diets even at relatively low concentrations would help
reduce costs and problems associated with its disposal. However, information
on the nutritional value of CPH is scanty. More studies are needed to ascer-
tain its nutritive quality for poultry. Hence, the present investigation was un-
dertaken to determine the chemical composition of CPH available in Ghana
and further assess the effects of graded levels of CPH in diets on performance
of broile: chickens.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The most predominant variety oi cocoa (Theobroma cacao) grown in

Ghana is the hybrid, Amelonado. The CPH used in this study was obtained
from the Cocoa Research Institute, Tafo, Ghana. The processing method,
which employs the combination of sun- and artificial-drying techniques, is
described in detail by Adomako (1984). The initial step in processing in-
volves cutting the husks into smaller pieces and sun-drying, during which the
husks are constantly turned over. They are further dried with hot air in a
mechanical dryer to a moisture content of about lo%, then ground in a ham-
mer mill to produce the meal and stored in polythene sacks until used in for-
mulations. The contents ofall sacks were thoroughly mixed. About 1 kg of the
bulked sample was then taken and stored in an air-tight bottle for chemical
analyses.
Proximate analyses of CPH and experimental diets were carried out using
the standard procedures of the Association of Official Analvtical Chemists
(1980). Acid-detergent tibre (ADF), neutral-detergent tidre (NDF) and
hemicellulose (Goering and Van Soest, 1970) were also estimated on the CPH
samples. Mineral analysis followed the procedure of Fick et al. ( 1979). The
metabolizable energy (ME) value of the CPH sample was determined for
growing chicks by the chromic oxide indicator method (Hill et al., 1960) us-
ing glucose as the reference standard and correcting for nitrogen retention.
The metabolizable energy values for the experimental diets were, however,
calculated from values given by the National Research Council (NRC, 1984)
and the determined ME content of CPH.
Amino acid determinations in CPH were performed by the column chro-
matographic technique using the automated Hitachi-Perkin-Elmer amino acid
analyzer (Model KLA-3B; Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) after hydrolysis of 100 mg
of CPH samples with 10 ml 6 M HCI solution at 110°C for 24 h. Methionine
and cystine were determined using the performic acid oxidation method
(Moore, 1963 ). Tryptophan, being destroyed during acid hydrolysis, was de-
termined chemically by the procedure described by Miller ( 1967).
A total of 450 unsexed 7-day-old commercial broiler chickens (AF Bosbek
strain) were randomly divided into 15 groups of 30 chicks, in a completely
randomized design. Each group was placed and reared in a clean, disinfected
COCOAPODHl,SKCOMFOSlTlON*NDEFFECTONrHlCKS 163

deep litter pen measuring 2.65 x2.55 m; a floor space of 0.225 m’ per bird.
Before the start of the feeding trial the birds were wing banded, weighed and
subsequently allocated to the treatments in such a way that the mean weights
differed as little as possible.
The five experimental diets were based on maize and fishmeal: the control
diet contained no CPH and the four others contained 50,100, 150 and 200 g
CPH kg-‘. Their composition and nutrient analysis are shown in Table 1.
The diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous, but differed in metabolizable
energy contents. Three groups of 30 birds received each of the five crumbled
diets for the ensuing 7 weeks. Food and water were supplied ad libitum. All
chicks were vaccinated against fowl pox and Newcastle disease at 2 and 6
weeks of age, respectively. A coccidiostat, sulphadimidine, was administered
via drinking water three times per week.
Food intake, body weight gain and food conversion ratios (food:gain) were
determined on a weekly basis for individual replicates of each dietary treat-
ment. Water consumption was determined by measuring and subtracting that
left over from the total given daily. Records of mortality were also kept. Fol-
TABLE I

Composition of experimental diets

Level ofCPH (g kg-’ diet)

!I 50 100 I50 200

Ingrcdrem (g kg- ’ ,
Maize 600.0 570.0 540.0 510.0 480.0
Cocoa pod husk 0.0 50.0 100.0 I50.0 200.0
Fnhmeal (63%CP) 180.0 185.0 190.0 195.0 200.0
Wheat bran 150.0 125.0 100.0 75.0 50.0
Brewer’s yeast 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0 40.0
Oyster shell (ground) 20.0 20.0 20.0 2o.c 20.9
Vitamin and mineral premix’ 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0
Salt 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

Cl~n~~icnla~~al~~sis
(g kg- ’ DM )
Crude protein 211.4 212.2 212.9 213.7 213.7
Crude fihre 35.4 48.4 61.3 74.3 86.4
Elher extract 45.4 46. I 46.7 47.3 48.0
Calcium L5.1 15.7 16.3 16.8 17.4
Phosphorus 9.03 9.02 9.02 9.02 9.02
Lysine 12.3 12.6 12.8 13.0 13.3
Methionine 50.2 5.05 5.06 5.09 5.10
ME (MJkg-‘1’ II.70 Il.43 II.17 10.91 10.74

‘Premix supplied (kg-’ diet): vitamin A, IO 000 IU: vitamin D,, 2000 IU: vitamin E, 10 IU: vitamin
K. 3 mg; riboflavin 2.5 mg; cobalamin, 0.05 mg: pantothenic acid, 5 mg; niacin, 12.5 mg; choline, I75
mg: folic acid, 0.5 mg; Mg. 2.8 mg: Fe, 0.5 mg: Cu. 50 mg: Zn, 25 mg; Co, 625 mg.
!
‘Calculated from dam of NRC ( 984) and the estimated metabalizable energy value of CPH.
164 A. DONKOH ET AL.

lowing the experimental period, four broilers from each of the 15 replicates
were selected at random, starved of food for about I8 h to empty their crops,
exsanguinated, defeathered and eviscerated. Carcass dressing percentage was
calculated from eviscerated weight and liveweight.
Four chicks from each treatment were randomly selected, killed by cervical
dislocation, the liver excised and examined to determine whether the diets
had resulted in gross pathological changes. Liver sections were cut before
staining with haematoxylin and eosin (Humason, 1979) and examined mic-
roscopically for any abnormalities in the cells.
Analysis of variance was carried out according to the procedures described
by Steel and Torrie (1980). The influence of level of CPH inclusion on the
various performance data was determined by using hnear regression analysis
according to Steel and Torrie (1980).

RESULTSAND DISCUSSION

Proximate analysis and chemical composition of CPH are shown in Table

2, with amino acid composition in Table 3. The limited data available on the
composition of cocoa husks (Oiiai et al., 1984) tend to confirm the results
obtained in the present study. The ether extract, ADF and NDF values ob-
tained are, however, relatively lower than those recorded by Okai et al. ( 1984).

TABLE 2

Chemical composition ofCPH (g kg-’ DM)

Component Present study’ Ok.+ et al

119841

Dry maser (g kg-’ ) 946

Crude protein 76.6 74.0
Ether extract 43.7 82.0
Crude fibre 325
Ash I01 LOO
Acid detergent fibre 414 564
Neutral detergent Iibre 522 644
Hemicellulase 108 80.0
Metabolizableenergy (MJ kg-l DM) 4.72
Calcium 8.12 8.80
Phosphorus 4.36 4.80
Magnesium 6.89 7.10
IFXl 0.33 0.40
Polassium 71.5 73.6
ManganE-X 0.15 0.10
Zinc 0.10 0.10
Copper 5.00 4.20
Sodium 0.17 0.20

‘The values are the means of three samples.

ccKo4 POD HUSK C”MPOSlTlclN AND EFFECT ON CHLCKS 165

TABLE 3

Amino acid composition of cocoa pod husk (% DM )

Component Present study’ Okai et al.
(1984)

AspaRic acid 0.80 0.74

.4laninc 0.44 0.35
Arginine 0.22 0.26
Cystine 0.09
Glycine 0.29 0.34
Glumatic acid 0.77 0.81
Hlalldme 0.21 0.18
Irolcucinc 0.24 0.29
Leucine 0.43 0.49
Lysine 0.40 0.35
Methionine 0.05 0.04
Phenylalanine 0.37 0.30
Proline 0.38 0.40
Swine 0.41 0.35
Thrconine 0.30 0.34
Tryplophan 0.04
Tyrosine 0.21 0.18
Wine 0.44 0.40

‘The values arc the means of three samples.

The ADF (414.0 g kg-’ DM) and NDF (522 g kg-’ DM) levels are greater
than that of crude tibre (325 kg-’ DM) which is mostly cellulose, whereas
the ADF contains lignin and cellulose. The NDF value corresponds mainly to
the sum of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin values. In comparison with
maize (NRC, 1984), the CPH contained less metabolizable energy and crude
protein and less of all the amino acids studied, except lysine.
The summary of performance of broiler chickens is shown in Table 4. Food
intakes were significantly different between dietary treatments with a marked
trend to increase with increasing level of CPH in the diet. At the highest level
of CPH inclusion (200 g kg- ’ ), food intake was 58.3% higher than the con-
trol. Regression of food intake against level of CPH in diets yielded the
equation
Y=3.87+0.013X (r=O.97; PiO.01)
Growth rates of the birds were significantly influenced by the inclusion of
CPH in diets over the course of the experiment. There was a general but in-
consistent significant depression In growth as the level of CPH in diets in-
creased. The relation between weight gain ( Y)and CPH level was expressed
as
Y= 1.64-0.0007X (r=0.8S;P<0.01)
166 A. DCINKOHEThL.

TABLE 4

Effozt of varying
lcvcls of CPH on the performance of broiler chickens from 7 10 56 days ofaee

LcvelofCPH (g kg-’ diet)

__-
0 50 100 150 200 Pooled SE

Food consumption (kg) 4.12 4.36 1.79 5.81 6.52 0.9I**

Protein intake (kg) 0.87 0.93 I.02 1.24 1.39 0.20”
MEinlake (MJ) 48.2 49.8 53.5 63.4 70.0 8.38”
Weight gain (kg) 1.62 1.65 I .60 1.50 I.52 0.06”
Food conversion ratio 2.54 2.64 2.99 3.87 4.29 o.t9**
Water intake (I ) 10.3 12.1 12.6 13.5 14.7 1.46-
Drcssingpercenfage (%)I 71.8 72.6 71.4 70.9 68.2 z.os**
Monaliw 1%) 10.0 3.33 6 66 3.33 6.66 2.50

‘Determined at 8 weeks ofage (II= !2 birds per treatment)

+<0.01.

Foodgain ratios appeared to be directly related to the amount of CPH in the

diet. Food conversion ratio was related to the dietary content of cocoa husks
by the equation
Y=2.32+0.095X (r=0.96;P<0.01)
Reports arc conflicting as to whether the effects of fibre in diets for poultry
are beneficial. Fibre affects the metabolizable energy content of the diet and
this in turn influences food intake; the effect depends on the source and con-
centration of the dietary ftbre (Weiss and Scott, 1979). The substitution of
CPH, a high-fibre, low-energy feedstuff for maize in the experimental diets
progressively reduced their metabolize energy concentration. Like other
monogastrics, birds consume more of low energy diets apparently in an at-
tempt to satisfy their energy requirements (Farrell et al., 1973).
In spite of their ability to consume diets containing up to 200 g CPH kg-‘.
broilers apparently could not utilize these diets as efficiently for growth as
they could the control diet. This suggests that the CPH had a negative nutri-
tive value, as it caused birds to consume more total feed, thus increasing their
intake of protein and metabolizable energy, yet weight gains were reduced,
with the exception of birds fed on the diet with 50 g CPH kg-‘. Bateman and
Fresnillo ( 1967) attributed the inferior performance of animal3 fed on CPH-
containing diets to the decrease in digestibility of protein, energy and other
components of the diets owing to the influence of crude fibre. Thus, the infe-
rior performance and food utilization observed among birds fed on diets con-
taining higher concentrations of CPH might be attributed to the reduced
amount of protein and energy available for growth. However, according to
Adeyanju et al. ( 1977) the inconsistency in growth depression might be due
to imbalances in amino acid contents or mineral contents.
cocm I’OOUHUSK COMPOSlTlON AND EFFECT ON CHICKS 167

The amnun? of wZel drunk by birds was highiy significanilyy (PiO.01)

correlated with the level of CPH in the diet. As the level of CPH in the diet
increased, there was cn increase in waicr consumption. The amount of water
drunk was related to the level of CPH by the equation

Y= 10.6+0.0204X (rz0.99; P<O.Ol)

The differences corroborate the observations of Parick and Ferrise ( 1962)

of the positive correlation between the amount of food consumed and water
intake. The increased water intake might partly be due to the diuretic effect
of iheobromine contained in cocoa and its by-products (Trease and Evans,
1972). AnJiher possible contributory factor to the increased water consump-
tion is the relatively high content of potassium in CPH. Kondo and Ross
( 1962) reported positive correlations between potassium content of the diet
and water consumption.
Wiih the exception of birds fed on the diet with 50 g CPH kg-‘, there was
a linear decrease in carcass dressing percentage with increasing level of CPH
in the diet. At the highest level of CPH inclusion, carcass dressing percentage
was 5% lower than the control. Carcass dressing percentage was related to the
dietary content of CPH by the equation

Y=72.77-0.018X(r=0.85;P<0.01)

The significantly lower carcass dressing percentage was mainly a reflection of

the lower performance recorded by birds fed on the diet which contained the
highest concentration of cocoa husks.
Bird mortality was similar on all dietary regimes (3.33-109/o) over the
course of the experiment. The level of CPH in the diet gave a correlation
coefficient of -0.38 when linearly regressed against mortality.
The findings, under the conditions of this study, showed no toxic effects in
terms of gross tissue changes in the liver. The histological characteristics of
the livers from birds on the control diet were similar to those from birds on
CPH-based diets.
The results indicate that cocoa husk has a low feeding value as an ingredient
in broiler chicken diets. It may, however, have a wider application in diets for
growing pullets and laying hens which have lower energy requirements. A wide
range of dietary energy levels can be used in layer diets without affecting egg
production. Levels varying from 2400 to 3200 kcal metabolizable energy
(ME) kg-’ have been studied extensively (Elwinger, I98 I, 1982; Piliang et
al., 1982; Mannion and McCloud, 1984). Further the nature and composi-
tion of tibre depends on its source and the effects of such variations warrant
further study.
168 A. OONKOH ET .AL.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Tie authors thank S.S. Yambillah, Gyedu-Baah Apanin and Gladys A.

Ndziba for their skilled assistance. The study was financially supported by
the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board.

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