The influence of fermented putak on diet digestibility and growth performance of weanling pigs

The use of fermented putak (prepared from the stalk of the palm tree; Corypha elata robx) as a substitute for maize meal in pig-fattening diets was evaluated in two experiments in the East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. Boiled putak was fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisae for 2 weeks and incorporated into pig-fattening rations at zero (control), 100 g raw putak in place of maize meal (UFP), 100 g fermented putak in place of maize meal (LFP) and 200 g fermented putak in place of maize meal (HFP) kg−1. In the first experiment, digestibility of the feeds was evaluated in a Latin Square design using four weaner pigs. In the second experiment, four groups of eight weaner pigs each were randomly allocated to the four diets in a complete randomised design and fed individually for 84 days. In the digestibility trial there were no significant (P>0.05) differences in feed intakes which were in g per day: 450 (control), 460 (UFP), 448 (LFP) and 453 (HFP). However, there were significant (P<0.05) differences in intake in the growth study. The intakes were in g per day: 752 (control), 581 (UFP), 828 (LFP) and 694 (HFP). There were significant (P<0.05) depressions in nutrient digestibility on the UFP diet, whereas, the LFP ranked higher than the control except in organic matter digestibility. Apparent digestibility of crude protein was 0.697, 0.639, 0.705 and 0.694 while for crude fibre it was 0.672, 0.546, 0.680 and 0.657 on the control, UFP, LFP and HFP diets, respectively. Gains in body weight during the growth study were 247, 145, 263 and 211 g per day. Results from the study show that 100 g fermented putak kg−1 can be included in pig-fattening diets in place of maize meal with no deleterious effects on the animal, thus releasing the maize meal much needed for human consumption in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara.