Energy, Protein and Fiber Digestibility of Arrowroot Plant (Maranta arundinacea L.) as Feed for Native Pigs
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Abstract
Arrowroot is an underutilized tuber crop with high starch content and potential as an alternative feed ingredient for swine. This study evaluated the energy, protein, and fiber metabolizability of arrowroot-based feedstuffs in native pigs. Fifteen native pigs representing three age groups (2, 4, and 7 months) were assigned to five treatments in a randomized complete block design: fasted pigs for endogenous loss determination (control), commercial feed, ensiled arrowroot whole plant, arrowroot tuber meal, and fresh arrowroot whole plant. Commercial feed recorded the highest true CODenergy (92.54%), followed by fresh arrowroot whole plant (90.42%), arrowroot tuber meal (89.51%), and ensiled arrowroot whole plant (86.94%), although differences were not significant (p=0.1779). True CODprotein differed significantly (p=0.0034), with commercial feed (93.61%) and fresh arrowroot whole plant (88.27%) showing higher values compared with arrowroot tuber meal (72.50%) and ensiled arrowroot whole plant (68.27%). Fiber digestibility was generally high, with fresh arrowroot whole plant exhibiting the highest neutral detergent fiber (94.69%) and acid detergent fiber (96.07%) utilization. Voluntary feed intake was significantly higher in pigs fed commercial feed (304.17 g/day) compared with arrowroot-based diets, although fresh whole plant (232.08 g/day) and tuber meal (202.08 g/day) showed acceptable intake levels. These findings suggest that arrowroot, particularly in its fresh whole-plant form, has potential as an alternative energy and fiber source for native pigs under controlled digestibility conditions. However, since this study focused only on coefficient of digestibility (energy, protein, fiber), further research is needed to evaluate growth performance, feed efficiency, carcass characteristics, and economic feasibility.
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