Babaçu integral (Attalea speciosa) e subprodutos como fonte alternativa na alimentação animal

Abstract

The State of Maranhão with its diversity of relief and climate has alternative foods of vegetable origin, especially those coming from the babaçu palm tree. The objective of this course completion project is to show some information about the composition, characteristics and the possibility of the use of crushed whole babassu coconut in the animal feed, making possible the production costs. Analyzes of the chemical composition of the whole coconut, pie and mesocarp of babassu were conducted at the Laboratory of Animal Nutrition of the Animal Science Department of the UEMA. The data were obtained through the collection of material from the cities of Grajaú - MA and São Luís - MA. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ethereal extract (EE), mineral matter (MM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber were determined according to the methodology described by SILVA and Queiroz (2002). The chemical composition of the analyzed foods presents a high variation when compared to the values mentioned in tables of composition of ingredients in the literature. Thus, it becomes important that more evaluations of the chemical composition of these alternative ingredients are performed, as well as studies of digestibility.