American Journal of BioScience 2019; 7(1): 1-6 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajbio doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20190701.11 ISSN: 2330-0159 (Print); ISSN: 2330-0167 (Online) Growth Performance, Metabolic Efficiency and Nutrient Utilization of BALB/C Mice Fed with Diet Made from Leftovers from Cocos nucifera Pulp Omondi Gilbert Ouma 1 , Malala Joel Bonface 1, 2, * , Msanzu Joseph Baya 1 , Anjili Christopher Omukhango 3 , Gicharu Gibson Kamau 1 , Huxley Makonde Mae 1 , Chimbevo Lenny Mwagandi 4 1 Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Faculty of Applied and Health Sciences, Technical University of Mombasa, Mombasa, Kenya 2 Directorate of Research and Innovation, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya 3 Centre for Biotechnology Research and Development, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya 4 Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Kirinyaga University, Kerugoya, Kenya Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Omondi Gilbert Ouma, Malala Joel Bonface, Msanzu Joseph Baya, Anjili Christopher Omukhango, Gicharu Gibson Kamau, Huxley Mokonde Mae, Chimbevo Lenny Mwagandi. Growth Performance, Metabolic Efficiency and Nutrient Utilization of BALB/C Mice Fed with Diet Made from Leftovers from Cocos nucifera Pulp, West Ethiopia. American Journal of BioScience. Vol. 7, No. 1, 2019, pp. 1-6. doi: 10.11648/j.ajbio.20190701.11 Received: January 25, 2018; Accepted: September 5, 2018; Published: February 27, 2019 Abstract: Shortage of animal feeds as a result of increased demand and competition for scarcely available animal feeds has led to drastic decrease in animal production globally. In Kenya, utilization of various plant parts including leaves, fruits and bark of various plantations is taking center stage. Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) a member of the pulp family Arecaceae has potential to feed animals from its leftovers after utilization for human food. The study sought to analyze proximate nutritional value composition of Coconut pulp leftovers and its formulated diet as well as in vivo growth performance of BALB/c mice. Formulated coconut pulp leftovers were dried before both phytochemical analysis and in vivo growth performance was determined. The Proximate analysis indicated Coconut pulp leftovers contained; 3.50±0.22% crude protein, 34.15±2.48% dry matter, 65.85±3.97% moisture content, 10.50±1.2422% total sugars and 25.00±0.35% total fats. Analysis of formulated coconut pulp diet indicated elevated crude protein 14.23±0.52%, dry matter 35.97±0.52% and total sugars 20.47±4.26% while moisture content 64.10±0.50% and total fats 22.10±0.50% declined. In vivo results for the Coconut pulp leftovers application on mice model to ascertain growth performance were as follows; weight gain 0.80±0.50%, SGR 0.33±0.29%, FCR 241.67±556.67% and conditional factor 0.47±0.12%. For formulated diet it was weight gain 3.90±3.22%, SGR 1.0483±0.91%, FCR 28.23±28.92% and conditional factor 0.58±0.04%. The result indicates Coconut pulp leftovers have potential for animal feeds diet formulation. Keywords: Animal Feeds, Coconut Pulp Leftovers, Formulated Diet, Conditional Factor and Arecaceae 1. Introduction Coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm family Arecaceae, the only accepted of genus Cocos. It is found wild and cultivated in India, Srilanka, Maldives, Middle East, USA, Bamuda and other tropical countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Pemba Island. Traditionally, Coconut palm is known for many uses due to the presence of nutritional values such as; sugars, proteins, vitamins, phytochemical and organic compounds [1-5]. Although the plant has been used for centuries in Kenya, the maximum usage of leftovers from coconut pulp, a by- products resulting from preparation of coconut milk has not been taken into consideration. The existing gap in the use of