J. Nutrition and Food Processing Copy rights@ Alagbe Olujimi John. Auctores Publishing LLC – Volume 7(3)-190 www.auctoresonline.org ISSN: 2637-8914 Page 1 of 6 Doum Palm Meal (Hyphaene Thebaica) and Partial Maize Substitution: Impact on The Blood Biochemical Indicators of Weaned Pigs Alagbe Olujimi John Sumitra Research Institute, Gujarat, India; Department of Animal Nutrition and Biochemistry. *Corresponding author: Alagbe Olujimi John, Sumitra Research Institute, Gujarat, India; Department of Animal Nutrition and Biochemistry. Received date: February 02, 2024; Accepted date: February 23, 2024; Published date: March 04, 2024 Citation: Alagbe O. John, (2024), Doum Palm Meal (Hyphaene Thebaica) and Partial Maize Substitution: Impact on The Blood Biochemical Indicators of Weaned Pigs, J. Nutrition and Food Processing, 7(3); DOI:10.31579/2637-8914/190 Copyright: © 2024, Alagbe Olujimi John. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract: This study looked at how weaned pigs' blood biochemical indicators were affected when doum palm meal (DPM) was used in part lieu of maize. After being weaned at 28 days of age and weighing 7.40 ± 0.09 kg at birth, fifty Landrace × Duroc crossbred pigs were divided into divisions based on their body weights and given five distinct experimental diets. Over the course of a ninety-day fully randomized design experiment. Diets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were fed 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 %, and 20 % DPM in place of maize. The NRC (2012) states that the experimental diet satisfied the pigs' needs, and clean water was provided daily and at will. DPM had the following elements: manganese (0.91 mg/100g), zinc (0.72 mg/100g), copper (0.35 mg/100g), iron (5.60 mg/100g), calcium (371.20 mg/100g), potassium (966.31 mg/100g), phosphorus (206.19 mg/100g), magnesium (150.67 mg/100g), and zinc. The values of total serum protein, albumin, globulin, creatinine, alanine phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and bicarbonate were not affected (P˃0.05) by the treatments, with the exception of the glucose level, which was higher (P˂0.05) in D1 than in the other treatments. It has been shown that DPM can partially replace up to 20% of maize without causing metabolic problems or adversely influencing the health of the animals. Key words: swine; doum palm; maize; serum; minerals; phytochemicals Introduction The high cost of other high-energy concentrate feed and the scarcity of grain make swine feed expensive in underdeveloped nations [1]. [2] states that 70–80 % of the overall cost of producing livestock is spent on feed, with a significant portion of this cost being attributable to the high price of maize on the market [3]. A common staple grain in many parts of the world, including Asia, Latin America, and Africa, is maize (Zea mays L.). A common feed grain and energy source for cattle, maize is fed to them as part of their diets [3]. When estimating the nutritional worth of other grains, especially their energy content, maize is usually compared to them [4, 5]. Maize is a common cereal grain in Nigeria that is fed to chickens and consumed by humans alike. However, given its increased demand for various processing industries, maize availability in Nigeria both now and in the future is in doubt. The use of cereal grains, especially maize, as a source of starch industry appears to justify the ongoing price increases of standard chicken feeds [6,7]. Given the circumstances, it is necessary to assess additional locally accessible non-conventional feed sources and include the most promising ones into the diets of chickens. One potential replacement is the doum palm fruit (Hyphaene thebaica), which is abundant in essential minerals like potassium, salt, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and other nutrients [8]. The plant belongs to the Arecaceae family and is endemic to Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, and west India, especially Gujarat [9]. The tree is dichotomous and arborescent in nature, and it has been called one of the world's useful plants [10]. Although the leafy stem is used for construction, the foliage is used to make hats, mats, ropes, and baskets [11]. The doum palm is used to treat bilharziasis and its fruit is sometimes chewed to decrease high blood pressure [12, 13]. [14] reported that the doum palm fruit pulp's proximate composition included the following: protein (2.86%), fat (0.92%), ash (6.24%), crude fiber (12.87%), moisture (8.64%), and carbohydrates (68.47%). Similar findings were made by [9] who recorded a crude protein of 2.92 percentage, ether extract (0.49 percentage), crude fiber (15.14 percentage), and metabolizable energy (2254.5 kcal/kg) for DPM. A wealth of information exists regarding the impact of partially substituting doum palm with maize on the serum biochemical indices of weaned piglets, despite the fact that there are numerous papers on the use of doum palm fruit in poutry. Timely assessment is essential to minimize feed costs, boost animal protein, and optimize the use of the test item. Open Access Research Article Journal of Nutrition and Food Processing Alagbe Olujimi John * AUCTORES Globalize your Research