Effects of Supplementation of Lambs' Diets with Babassu Oil or Buriti Oil on Nutrient Digestibility and Growth Performance

Babassu (Orbignya phalerata Mart.) and Buriti (Mauritia flexuosa, Mart.) are palm trees abundant in northeast and north of Brazil, in the transition between Amazon rain forest and Cerrado biomes. The oil extracted from their fruits is available locally and thus can be an alternative lipid source to increase energy density of growing lambs' diets. Twenty one lambs (initial BW 18.9 ± 3.8 kg and 120 d old) were used in a complete randomized block design to determine the effects of adding babassu oil or buriti oil on apparent digestibility and growth performance. Lambs were penned individually during 50 d and fed one of three diets: CONT - control diet containing 70% concentrate and 30% Tifton 85 hay; BAO – control diet plus 40 g/kg of babassu oil; BUO – control diet plus 40g/kg of buriti oil. At the end of performance monitoring period, the intake was recorded and total feces collected for 4 d. Data were analyzed by one way ANOVA and when significant diet effect (P < 0.05) was found means were compared using Tukey method. No significant differences were detected for DM (840 ± 176 g/d), CP (155±38 g/d), NDF (290±74 g/d) and ME (2.3±0.5 Mcal/d) intake. Also, no significant differences were observed for DM (74.74±5.0%), CP (75.9±6.3%) and NDF (60.2±7.8%) digestibility. The ether extract (EE) intake was higher (P<0.05) with BUO (60.5 g/d) than with BAO (47.8 g/d) and both BUO and BAO were higher (P<0.05) than CONT (23.3 g/d). However, the apparent digestibility of EE was higher (P<0.05) with BAO (79.5%) than with BUO (68.7 %) and both BAO and BUO were higher (P<0.05) than CONT (55.4%).The ADG did not differ (P>0.05) and averaged 187±51 g/d across treatments. Moreover, the gain to feed ratio did not differ (P>0.05) and averaged 0.22±0.09 across treaments. In conclusion, the addition of babassu oil or buriti oil did not affect the growth performance or nutrient apparent digestibility, except for EE.