The Effect of Adding Tomato Pulp to Pelleted and Complete Diets on Some Productive Parameters and Characteristics of Awassi Lamb Carcass

Mahmoud Al-Ahmed
General Commission of Scientific Agricultural Research-
(GCSAR), Deraa Research Center
Faculty of Agriculture, Damascus University,
2009

Abstract

An experiment was carried for fattening Awassi lambs and studying the characteristics of their carcasses at Somakiate ewes research station, Deraa Research Center during the period 19 March to 19 June 2007.
Ninety male lambs of Awassi race with similar age and weight were used. Lambs were divided into six groups according to complete random block design with three replications in the factorial method, and they were fed six diets of similar energy and protein under the same conditions of accommodation and care for 90 days of which 10 days as a preliminary period. The first group’s lambs, second and third group’s fed on concentrated and pelleted diets of different content of dried tomato pulp and treated with urea (0, 15, 25)% respectively, while the fourth, fifth and sixth groups of lambs were fed on the same diets in form of fodder pellets.
Fattening period was divided into two phases each phase 40 days. In the first phase the daily demands of a lamb were 1300 g of dry matter, 3.4 Mcal metabolisable energy and 191 g crud protein, while in the second phase  the daily demands were 1600 g of dry matter, 4,4 m cal ME, and 185 g of crud protein.
The results showed that diets pelletings led to a significant increase (P≤0.05) of average final live weight, total weight, average daily gain and feed conversion factor ratio by 4.4, 7.7, 7.7 and 8% respectively, and to a significant increase in average weights of cold and hot carcass, left half carcass, leg, back, and  shoulders by 7, 7.1, 5.6, 6.3, 11.4% and 5.4% respectively. Fodder pelleting has also led to a significant increase in the shap and dressing percentage by 1.4 and 6.1% respectively.
Moreover, the addition of tomato pulp by 15% to diets led to a significant increase (P≤0.05) in average intake dry matter by 2%, and carcass fat percentage, visceral fat weight and fat kidney by 15.3, 36.8 and 36.2% compared to the diets without tomato pulp respectively.
Addition of tomato pulp by 25% to diets caused significant increase (P≤0.05) in average intake dry matter by 2.6% compared to diets without tomato pulp. It also caused a significant increase in heart weight compared with  the addition of tomato pulp by 15% to diets. No significant differences in other carcass and productivity parameters due to the disparity in the ratio of tomato pulp in diets.
The feasibility study showed that the cost of 1 kg live weight for lambs were fed on diets added to tomato pulp by 25% was the lowest (19.4%) compared with lambs feeding on diets without tomato pulp. This, in turn, led to a rise in profit 7.7%, which underline the economic feasibility of adding tomato pulp by 25% to diets.

GCSAR