UTILIZATION OF MEXICAN SUNFLOWER LEAF MEAL-BASED DIETS BY PRE WEANED WEST AFRICAN DWARF LAMBS
Undernourishment in sheep has been reported to manifest among lambs in form of reduced birthweight, retarded growth rate and increased mortality (Ogunwole, 2004; Adu and Olaloku, 1979). Oyedipe (1981) further explained that nutrition of growing ruminants is one of the single most important factor influencing growth, onset of puberty, litter size and survival rates of the young ones. A departure from the growth of lambs is likely to set in as from the third week of life when the milk yield of ewe starts to decline (Adu, 1975). It is clear from the research findings that early weaned lambs cannot survive on pasture alone. In view of this, the provision of creep feeding would be necessary as soon as the lambs are able to nibble on solid foods. Such provision should be palatable, nutritionally adequate, low in fibre and highly digestible. In addition to the enhanced growth of lambs, creep feeding encourages rumen development, a condition that increases the subsistence of the lambs on solid foods (Adu, 1975). Wheat bran (WB) in Nigeria about 15 – 20 years ago had little or no value but presently, due to high cost of conventional energy sources, population explosion and poor protein intake in the country, WB in Nigeria presently is a major source of energy for ruminants. In order to reduce the high cost of production of beef, milk and other products, there is need for replacement of some percentages of WB with Mexican sunflower leaf meal (MSLM). Mexican sunflower (MS) is readily available in Nigeria, although, it has a long history of existence but it has always been considered as a weed and often time, it’s left to rot on the farm after weeding and sometime burnt. Apart from the environmental pollution associated with burning, it also contributes ISSN 1330-7142 UDK = 636.084.1:636.38
Proximate composition, amino acid profile and some anti-nutrients of Tithonia diversifolia cut at two different times
The experiment assessed the proximate and amino acid compositions, metabolizable energy and anti-nutrient constituents of Tithonia diversifolia leaf meal (TDLM) harvested separately in the months of May and September, respectively using standard laboratory methods. The crude protein (20.5±0.1%), crude fibre (18.8±0.01%) and ash (14±0.1%) significantly (p˂0.05) increased in TDLM for September cutting than that of May (18.05±0.1%, 11.17±0.3% and 13.01±0.1%, respectively). All the anti-nutrient factors (ANFs), namely, oxalate, phenols, phytin, phytin P, saponins and tannins except alkaloids and flavonoids were significantly (p˂0.05) affected by the cutting time of the plant leaf. The ANFs contents in May cutting were oxalate (1.88±0.1 mg/100 g), phenols (0.31±0.01 mg/100 g), phytin (77.3±0.1 mg/100 g), phytin P (21.8±0.1 mg/100 g), saponins (21.8±0.1 mg/100 g) and tannins (0.5±0.01 mg/100 g). The metabolisable energy (ME) for May cutting of TDLM was 2908.27 kcal/kg while that of September was 2565.18 kcal/kg. Glutamic acid had the highest value of 10.94±0.02 mg crude protein among the determined amino acids in TDLM whereas cystine was the lowest (0.94±0.01 mg crude protein for both May and September cuttings. TDLM is limiting in methionine with a chemical score of 30 in both cuttings. Proximate composition of TDLM was higher for September cutting than May and could be used as vegetable protein source. 
 
 Key words: Tithonia diversifolia leaf, proximate composition, amino acid profile, anti-nutrients, May cutting, September cutting.
Phytic acid content of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and black gram (Vigna mungo): varietal differences and effect of domestic processing and cooking methods
Phytic acid content of various cultivars showed a narrow variation: 7.48-8.00 g kg−1 and 6.47-6.68 g kg−1 for chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) and black gram (Vigna mungo L), respectively. Phytic acid was lowered significantly by the common methods of domestic processing and cooking including soaking, cooking, autoclaving and sprouting of the legume grains. Sprouting had the most marked phytic acid lowering effect followed by autoclaving and soaking. Cooking of soaked seeds lowered phytic acid by 20-26% in chickpea and 35-40% in black gram grains whereas the loss was 7-11% and 6-9% in these pulses, respectively, when unsoaked seeds were cooked.