Efficacy of Fungus Treated Ackee Apple (Blighia sapida Seed Meal on Milk Quantity and Quality of Lactating Goat
The study evaluates the efficacy of Aspergillus niger treated Ackee (Blighia sapida) Apple seed meal on milk quantity and quality of lactating West African dwarf goats (n= 12) The goats were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments with three replicates per treatment in a Completely Randomized design model. Treatment A (Control, without fungus treated Ackee Apple meal inclusion) Treatment B (2.5% inclusion level of fungus treated Ackee Apple seed meal) Treatment C (5.0% inclusion level of fungus treated Ackee Apple seed meal) and Treatment D (7.5% inclusion level of fungus treated Ackee Apple seed meal) The results revealed significant differences in the milk yield thus: 79.26kg (A) 86.65 (B) 82.79 (C) and 121.79kg (D) The butter fat was highest for Treatment A followed by B, C, and D in that order however, Treatments A and B are similar. The highest Solids not fat (SNF) content was recorded for Treatments D>B>C and the least was A. The milk protein was greater for Treatment s D, B and C and lowest for Treatment A (Control) However, Treatment B had the highest Total Solids (18.22% hile D was 15.09% C was 14.85% and A was 13.38% The Lactose content was 6.79% (D) 6.60% (B) 6.09% (C) and 4.61 (A) It could be concluded that inclusion of Aspergillus niger treated Ackee Apple seed meal in the diet of lactating West African dwarf goat should be encouraged among dairy farmers.