Evaluation on serum mineral profile in boer goats feed with physical pretreatment of oil palm frond

Common nutritional problem in ruminants is usually caused by mineral deficiency. Minerals are important for productive and reproductive physiology of goats. Since oil palm frond (OPF) is abundant and cheap, it is widely used as ruminant feed in Malaysia. However, OPF is high in lignin content and cause the low digestibility. In order to upgrade the use of OPF, physical pretreatment was applied in the current study. Hence, the present study aims to evaluate the effect of OPF feeding on the serum mineral profile of goats as well as to investigate the efficacy of physical pretreatment of OPF on the serum mineral profile of goats. In animal feed trial, fifteen (15) goats of 4 months old were allocated to three different dietary groups which are; 20% fresh OPF + 50% Napier grass + 30% commercial pellet (treatment 1), 20% OPF pressed fibre + 50% Napier grass + 30% pellet (treatment 2), and one of control treatment which only fed with 50% Napier grass and 30% commercial goat pellet. The blood was drawn at jugular vein using 21 gauge needles and blood was collected into the red top tube for mineral analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Mineral concentrations of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg and Zn shows no significantly difference between the treatment. Control treatment shows 4205.57 of Ca; 0.91 of Cu; 3.25 of Fe; 1845.90 of Mg; 1.54 of Zn (mg/L), while group 1 shows 354.20 of Ca , 1.03 of Cu, 3.73 of Fe, 123.83 of Mg, 1.49 of Zn (mg/L). Lastly, mineral concentration in Group 2 are 334.40 of Ca; 1.46 of Cu; 3.04 of Fe; 182.43 of Mg; 1.30 of Zn (mg/L). In conclusion, the mineral contents are vary between treatment. Physical pretreatment of OPF did not improve the level of mineral contents in goats’ serum.