Journal of Bioscience and Biotechnology Discovery Volume 6(1), pages 7-12, February 2020 Article Number: DD850DA32 ISSN: 2536-7064 https://doi.org/10.31248/JBBD2020.122 https://integrityresjournals.org/journal/JBBD Full Length Research Effects of Gmelina arborea, Roxb leaf meal on egg characteristics of Coturnix coturnix japonica, Temmick Asolo, Chioma Helen 1 *, Okeke John Joseph 1 , Mayie Francis Nnamdi 1 , Okpoko Valentine Obinna 1 and Ezeanekwu Raymond Orji 2 1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biosciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. 2 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Chukwuemeka Odimegwu University, Uli, Anambra State, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. Email: asohelecy@gmail.com Copyright © 2021 Asolo et al. This article remains permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received 24th February, 2020; Accepted 12th March, 2020 ABSTRACT: A thirty-six weeks feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of inclusion of varying levels of Gmelina arborea on egg characteristics, using two (2) weeks old Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Ninety-six birds were allocated to four dietary treatment groups with three (3) replicates of eight (8) birds each in a completely randomized design comprising of control (C) containing 0 g/kg; T1, 50 g/kg; T2, 100 g/kg and T3, 150 g/kg of Gmelina arborea leaf meal. Feed and water were provided throughout the experimental period. Egg characteristics were the response criteria that were monitored and subjected to a one-way anova. There were significant (p<0.05) differences observed between treatments for mean egg number and egg shell weight, while no differences (p>0.05) were observed between treatments for eggs composition, weight of eggs, egg shell thickness, egg length, egg width, albumen height, albumen width, albumen weight, yolk height, yolk width, yolk weight. From this study, the egg laying performance and characteristics of eggs laid by birds suggested that among the treatments, up to 50 g/kg of Gmelina arborea leaf meal could be successfully included in quails’ diets without any adverse effect. Keywords: Albumen, egg, Gmelina arborea, weight, yolk. INTRODUCTION The problem of food deficiency in underdeveloped and developing countries has continued to worsen due to the perpetual increase in human population (Fatokun et al., 2013). The Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) have the potential to serve as an excellent and cheap source of animal protein for Nigerians (Babangida and Ubosi, 2006; Ani et al., 2009). Distinct characteristics of the Japanese quail include rapid growth thus enabling the quail to be ready for consumption at 5 to 6 weeks of age, early sexual maturity, short generation interval, disease resistance, less capital requirement, high rate of lay and much lower feed and space requirement than domestic fowl (Adeogun and Adeoye, 2004). Livestock farmers, especially those in Nigeria and neighboring countries are faced with the problem of continuous inadequacy of feed ingredients (Fatokun et al., 2013). This arises from the ever-increasing needs of men for the same livestock feed ingredients for his food and industrial raw materials used in the production of other materials like maize, millet, sorghum, soybean, groundnut, cassava and other tubers (Fatokun et al., 2013). Gmelina arborea R. is one of the such novel feed stuffs (Annongu and Folorunso, 2003). The potential of leaf meals from these tropical trees and shrubs to yield relatively higher levels of crude protein and minerals, and lower crude fiber levels than tropical grasses has also been recognized (Esonu et al., 2003; Fasina et al., 2004; Okagbare et al., 2004a; Amata, 2010). The amount of research carried out with nonconventional feeding materials could have a major impact on livestock production but they continue to be unused, underdeveloped or underutilized. A critical factor in this regard has been the lack of proper understanding of the nutritional principles underlying their utilization (Amata and Lebari, 2011).