Evaluation of date-feed ingredients mixes

Pitted dates (dates after pits removal) were mixed separately in a semi-liquid form with two feeds (yellow maize and wheat bran) then dried and ground. Each ingredient was mixed with the dates at 11 ratios (50 : 50, 55 : 45, 60 : 40, 65 : 35, 70 : 30, 75 : 25, 80 : 20, 85 : 15, 90 : 10, 95 : 5 and 100 : 00). All mixes were kept at room temperature (24 ± 2°C) for three months. Then, chemical (proximate analysis), physical (pasting time and temperature, and maximum viscosity) and microbial (number of fungi per gramme) analysis were performed. The quality of each ingredient was found to improve with increasing level of pitted dates in terms of keeping quality and binding ability. In addition, proximate composition (crude protein, crude fat and total ash) reflected the proportion of each ingredient (yellow maize or wheat bran), their composition and the mixing level. Finally, the number of fungi per gramme was reduced as the level of dates was increased.