Potential Use of Moringa Olifera in Poultry Diets

Abstract

This paper reviewed researches on the use of Moringa oleiferain poultry diets. As the price of compound feed continues to escalate due to the high expense of conventional protein sources such as fishmeal and soybean meal there is an urgent need to look for alternative sources of protein and Moringa is one of such protein sources. Moringa has excellent nutritive value and therapeutic properties. The crude protein (CP) content of Moringa ranges from 71.2 to 391.7 g/kg and varies across the plant parts with the seeds having the highest CP content followed by flowers, leaves, whole plant, stems and pods. However, Moringa contains anti-nutritional factors such as tannins, phytates, trypsin inhibitors, saponins, oxalates and cyanide, which affect protein and mineral metabolism and availability to the animal.The availability of phosphorus to the birds can be enhanced through addition of phytase to break down phytate that binds phosphorus. It is apparent from the previous studies that inclusion of Moringa in poultry diets improves performance of chickens in terms of growth rate and egg production. As the cost of Moringa can be prohibitively high in some countries, economically inclusion levels should be determined.