| Abstract: | Weight changes, food intake, in-vivo intestinal absorption of D -galactose (2.77mm) and L -leucine (5 mM) and in-vitro intestinal absorption of d-galactose (2 mm) were studied in male growing chickens fed ad libitum from hatching for periods of 21 and 49 days on 210 g kg?1 protein diets containing either heated soya bean (HSB, control) with or without added tannic acid (25 and 30 g kg?1) or raw kidney bean (RKB, Phaseolus vulgaris L) as the main sources of protein. As compared with HSB-fed birds, weight gain was significantly smaller (P <0.05) in the HSB + tannic acid- and RKB-fed birds; these chickens ate significantly more (P <0.05) than HSB-fed birds. Regardless of the number of days of feeding, both HSB + tannic acid- and RKB-fed birds showed a significant reduction (P <0.05) in the rates of in-vivo intestinal absorption of galactose and leucine and in-vitro intestinal absorption of galactose, as compared with HSB-fed chickens, these effects being especially marked in the RKB-fed birds. The possible implications of these findings are discussed. |
