Author : Kartiarso

Summary : Two experiments were conducted to study the feeding value of camote for early weaned pigs. Experiment I used 20 crossbred pigs (female and male) weaned at 21 days old. The pigs were randomly allotted to four treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment contained approximately 22 percent crude protein (CP) and 3,000 kcal/kg of Metabolizable Energy (ME). The energy in treatment 1 was provided mainly by ground corn, and those in treatments II, III, and IV by boiled camote, raw camote, and predigested camote with alpha amylase, respectively. No significant differences were found between treatments in feed efficiency, feed consumption, and average daily weight gain although the pigs fed with corn had slightly more efficiency than those fed camote. Cooking and predigesting camote with alpha amylase did not significantly improve the performance of the piglets. The nutrient digestibility of camote-based rations was significantly higher than that of the corn-based diet, (P<0.05 for CP and P<0.01 for other nutrients). The energy digestibility was higher in camote-based ration than in corn-based ration (P<0.01). Predigesting the camote with enzyme or cooking it failed to significantly improve the energy digestibility. Experiment II used 25 crossbred pigs (female and male) weaned also at 21 days old. The pigs were randomly allotted to five treatment in a completely randomized design. Each treatment contained approximately 22 percent CP and 3,000 kcal/kg of ME. The four treatments were mainly based on raw camote meal, as follows: treatment 1, raw camote meal; treatment II, raw camote meal + 5 percent sugar; treatment III, raw camote meal + 2 percent coconut oil; and treatment IV, raw camote meal + 2.5 percent sugar + 2 percent coconut oil. Treatment V, the control, provided energy mainly from ground corn. No significant differences were found between treatments in feed efficiency, average daily weight gain, and feed consumption. However, average daily weight gains of piglets fed with camote + su...