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Digestibility of sun dried cassava chips in dogs

Article in Research Opinions in Animal and Veterinary Sciences · January 2014

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RESEARCH OPINIONS IN ANIMAL & VETERINARY SCIENCES

Digestibility of sun dried cassava chips in dogs

K. Vasupen1*, C. Yuangklang1, J. Khotsakdee2, S. Wongsuthavas3 and A.C. Beynen2,4
1
Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Science and Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology-Isan,
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand; 2Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Natural Resources, Rajamangala
University of Technology-Isan, Phang Khon Campus, Sakon Nakhon, Thailand; 3Department of Post Harvest and
Processing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Rajamangala University of Technology-Isan,
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand; 4Vobra Special Petfoods, Veghel, The Netherlands

Abstract
We have earlier shown that sun dried, ground, non-heated cassava chips are highly digestible in growing pigs.
In this study, we tested the possibility that sun dried cassava meal would also be well digested by dogs. Twelve adult
dogs were subjected to a 3×3 Latin square design with three experimental diets and three periods (three weeks each).
The control diet was a homogenized, commercial, extruded diet that was pelleted at environmental temperature. The
two test diets were made in the same manner, but after grinding, the commercial diet was blended with either 10 or
30% of sundried, non-heated cassava meal. The diets were well accepted by the dogs. The inclusion of cassava in
the diet did not affect the amount and water content of faeces, but it significantly elevated the faecal score in a dose-
dependent fashion. The faecal score for the 30% cassava diet was equivalent to diarrhoea. It was suggested that the
feeding high amounts of non-heated cassava lowers water binding of faecal matter. The apparent digestibility of the
non-structural carbohydrates (nitrogen-free extract) in non-heated cassava, as calculated by the difference method,
was found to be 79.8% for the 10% cassava level and 84.0% for the 30% level. It was concluded that high intake
levels of sun dried, non-heated cassava are unsuitable for dogs.

Keywords: Cassava; dog; digestibility; faeces consistency

To cite this article: Vasupen K, C Yuangklang, J Khotsakdee, S Wongsuthavas and AC Beynen, 2014.
Digestibility of sun dried cassava chips in dogs. Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 4(5): 264-267.

Introduction representing the starch component, was found to be

98%. The inclusion of cassava in the diet induced the
There is an increasing use of cassava (tapioca) as production of more shaped and harder faeces (Gröner
ingredient for the production of dry, high-temperature- and Pfeffer, 1997). Carciofi et al. (2008) used an
extruded dog foods (Aldrich, 2011). As a functional extruded diet containing 42.5% cassava flour as major
ingredient, cassava is commonly incorporated as starch starch source and reported an apparent starch
source into hypoallergenic diets. The current owners’ digestibility of 99%. The faeces characteristics were
interest in grain-free dog foods has further stimulated described as hard, formed and dry.
the use of cassava as starch source alternative to grains In the two studies (Gröner and Pfeffer, 1997;
(Aldrich, 2011). Carciofi et al., 2008), the diets containing cassava had
Gröner and Pfeffer (1997) fed dogs an extruded been extruded, and thus the cassava was exposed to
basal diet as such or as blend with 40% cassava and high temperature, prior to feeding to the dogs. It would
determined the apparent digestibility of non-structural appear that the production process rendered the starch
carbohydrates (nitrogen-free extract, NFE) in cassava component available for digestion, resulting in a
by the difference method. The digestibility of non- digestibility as high as 99%. Gelatinization and
structural carbohydrates in cassava, in essence disintegration of starch granules, as effected by thermal

*Corresponding author: K. Vasupen, Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Science and Liberal Arts,
Rajamangala University of Technology-Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand

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processing, increases starch susceptibility for amylolytic A restricted amount of each diet was fed in two equal
degradation and thus enhances starch digestion in dogs. portions per day. During feeding, the dogs were confined
Sun dried cassava chips are highly digestible in in their own cage for a period of 15 min. The daily
growing pigs fed non-heated diets in meal form: for a diet amount of food provided was equivalent to 5536 kJ and
containing 58% cassava chips and 40% soybean meal, the 4461 kJ of metabolizable energy for the males and
apparent digestibility of the nitrogen-free extract was females respectively. The amounts of energy were
found to be 96.5% (Vasupen et al., 2008). As dogs and equivalent to 90% of the assumed requirement for
pigs share similar characteristics of starch digestion at the maintenance (500 kJ per kg body weight0.75). To calculate
level of the small intestine, it could be suggested that sun the energy value of the experimental diets, the energy
dried cassava meal may also be highly digestible in dogs. values for protein, fat and carbohydrates were taken to be
If this would indeed be the case, sun dried cassava could 17, 37 and 16 kJ metabolizable energy per gram. The
be used in dog foods produced at relatively low calculated energy value of the control diet was 1415
temperatures. kJ/100 g. For the test diets with 10 or 30 % sun dried
The questions to be addressed in the experiment with cassava the calculated energy densities were 1407 and
dogs were as follows. i) Is the starch in sun dried, ground, 1392 kJ/100 g. The energy density of the control diet was
non-heated cassava chips indeed highly digestible? To based on the guaranteed analysis panel on the packaging:
answer this question, the digestibility of homogenized crude protein (20%); crude fat (7%); crude fibre (6%); ash
cassava chips was determined by the difference method at (6%) and moisture (10%).
two inclusion levels (10 and 30%) in a dry food. ii) Does During the last 5 days of each period, the dogs were
cassava meal inclusion have any effects on the penned up in their own cage. From each dog, the faeces
digestibility of macronutrients in the whole diet? iii) Does were collected quantitatively.
cassava meal affect feed intake, body weight and faeces
Measurements
quality?
At the beginning of each period, body weights of the
dogs were determined. Throughout the experiment, the
Materials and Methods faeces quality was scored on a 1-5 scale (Waltham Faecal
Grading System). Feed and faeces samples were
Dogs and housing processed for the proximate analysis of dry matter, crude
Twelve Golden Retrievers, aged 29 months, were fat, crude protein, crude fibre and ash as described
used. There were 8 intact males and 4 spayed females. (Vasupen et al., 2008). The amount of non-structural
The dogs were housed as a group in a confinement (10 × carbohydrates was calculated as residual fraction.
10 m) located under a roof, but otherwise with open air.
Within the confinement there were 12 cages (1.0 x 0.5 × Statistical analysis
0.6 m) with plastic grated floor. The animals could move The data were evaluated for diet effects with the use
freely within the confinement, including the open cages. of ANOVA. If there were statistically significant diet
However, during feeding and faeces collection intervals, effects, the three diet groups were compared with the
the dogs were locked up in their own cage. Tukey test. P<0.05 was taken as a criterion of statistical
significance.
Experimental design
The dogs were subjected to a 3×3 Latin square design Results
with three experimental diets and three periods of three
weeks each. Per diet order there were 4 dogs. Table 1 Table 1 shows the analysed composition of the
shows the ingredient and analysed composition of the experimental diets. As would be expected, mixing of sun
three experimental diets. The control diet was a dried cassava chips with the commercial diet reduced
commercial diet (Bok Dök, Nutrix Company Ltd, Muang, protein and fat levels, but raised the amount of non-
Chachoengsao, Thailand) of one production batch. The structural carbohydrates. Unexpectedly, blending of the
extruded diet was homogenized, water was added and the commercial diet with cassava increased the content of
mixture was put through a pelleting machine at crude fibre.
environmental temperature. The pellets were sun dried. Throughout the experiment, there were no food
The test diets were made in the same manner, but after refusals: each dog ate its ration within 15 min after
grinding either 10 or 30% of sun dried, homogenized administration. Within the feeding periods, there were no
cassava chips were added. The analysed composition of significant changes in body weight. Initial body weights
the cassava chips was as follows: moisture, 13.7%; crude were 28.4±0.2 (mean±SE) and 21.3±0.9 kg for males and
protein, 2.6%; crude fat, 2.4%; ash, 1.9% and crude fibre, females dogs respectively. The final body weights were
4.0%. The calculated amount of non-structural 28.8±0.2 and 21.8±1.0 kg for males and females
carbohydrates was 75.4%. respectively.

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Table 1: Ingredient and analysed composition of the inclusion levels. The digestibility of non-structural
experimental diets carbohydrates was found to be 79.8% for the low level
Control 10% cassava 30% cassava and 84.0% for the high level.
Ingredient, g
Commercial diet 1000 900 700
Sun dried cassava - 100 300 Discussion
Chemical analysis, % of dry matter
Dry matter* 94.6 94.7 96.5 From the outset, it is important to stress that in this
Crude protein 19.8 18.6 15.6 study sun dried, non-heated, ground cassava chips were
Crude fat 8.3 7.7 7.5 fed to the dogs in the form of a non-heated blend with a
Crude fibre 6.1 6.3 6.5 commercial diet. According to the list of ingredients on
Ash 9.2 7.4 7.8 the packaging, the extruded, commercial diet contained
Carbohydrates (NFE) 56.6 60.0 62.6
corn and cassava as starch sources. The diets containing
NFE = nitrogen-free extract; *Expressed on product basis
10 or 30% non-heated cassava meal were well accepted
Table 2: Faeces production and score for dogs fed the by the dogs. Cassava in the diet raised the group-mean
experimental diets amount of fresh faeces in a dose-dependent fashion, but
Control 10% 30% SEM P the increase did not reach statistical significance.
cassava cassava value Apparent digestibility of dry matter was not significantly
Faeces affected by incorporation of cassava into the diet. Faecal
g/day 433 450 465 36.9 0.826 moisture content was not influenced by the ingestion of
g dry matter/100g 29.1 29.1 28.6 1.3 0.940 cassava. However, faeces scores were significantly
Score 2.6a 2.9b 4.3c 0.06 0.000
increased by cassava in the ration. The average faeces
Means (n=12) within the same row not sharing the same
superscript letter are significantly different (P<0.05)
score of 4.3, as seen for the diet containing 30% cassava,
would be unacceptable in practice. A score of 4.5
Table 3: Apparent digestibility of nutrients in dogs fed the represents diarrhoea with some areas of consistency.
experimental diets Thus, it would appear that high levels of sun dried, non-
Control 10% 30% SEM P heated cassava cannot be applied in non-heated dog
cassava cassava value rations.
Apparent digestibility (Percent of intake) The effect of cassava feeding on faeces
Dry matter 69.6 71.9 68.0 3.27 0.705 characteristics cannot be interpreted easily. In this study,
Organic matter 74.1 76.1 73.0 2.80 0.728 the diet containing 30% non-heated cassava caused
Crude protein 74.4 76.2 70.5 3.49 0.503
diarrhoea, but did not raise the water content of faeces. In
Crude fat 76.6 81.1 75.1 2.75 0.280
Crude fibre 24.3 27.4 22.0 8.93 0.913 essence, mixing non-heated cassava into the diet was
Carbohydrates (NFE) 78.3 78.4 80.0 1.66 0.726 done at expense of heated corn and heated cassava. It
Ash 27.4 28.9 15.6 7.18 0.369 seems that sun dried, non-heated cassava does not
Means (n=12) within the same row are not significantly different promote osmotic diarrhoea with raised faecal water
content, but decreases water binding of faecal matter.
The inclusion of cassava in the diet did not Kamalu (1991) used wet, cooked, isonitrogenous
significantly affect the amount of fresh faeces produced diets consisting of lean pork, bone meal, minerals,
daily and left the faecal dry matter content unchanged vitamins and either 77.9% rice or 70.0% cassava on a dry
(Table 2). The addition of cassava to the diet significantly matter basis. The cassava diet significantly raised the
elevated the faecal score in a dose-dependent fashion. A water content of faeces in young growing dogs. Extruded
faeces score of 2.5 is equivalent to well formed stools diets with cassava levels as high as 40% have been shown
with a slightly moist surface. A score of 4.5 represents to produce hard faeces in dogs (Gröner and Pfeffer, 1997;
diarrhoea with some areas of consistency. Carciofi et al., 2008). Mixing cassava, rice or corn into a
The apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic basal extruded diet was found to lower faecal water
matter, crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash and non- content (Gröner and Pfeffer, 1997). However, Carciofa et
structural carbohydrates were not significantly affected by al. (2008) reported that cassava versus either corn or
mixing cassava into the diet (Table 3). When compared brewer’s rice in an extruded diet raised the fraction of
with the control diet, group-mean digestibility of crude water in faeces. Thus, the results from the different
protein, crude fat and crude fibre were higher for the diet studies cannot be reconciled.
with 10% cassava, but lower for the diet containing 30% Table 3 illustrates an interesting trend with regard to
cassava. Such a tendency was not seen for the digestibility the group mean digestibility of dry matter, organic matter,
of non-structural carbohydrates. crude protein, crude fat and crude fibre. When compared
The apparent digestibility of the NFE component of to the commercial diet, the digestibility was higher for the
cassava was calculated by the difference method. The 10% cassava diet, but lower for the 30% cassava diet. It
calculations were made separately for the 10 and 30% appears that the high intake level of non-heated cassava

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 Res. Opin. Anim. Vet. Sci., 2014, 4(5): 264-267.

interferes with digestion, whereas the low level has a the non-structural carbohydrates, was found to be
promoting activity. A high level (42%) of cassava, instead relatively low. Furthermore, high dietary inclusion levels
of corn (53%), in an extruded diet raised the apparent of non-heated cassava will produce diarrhoea in dogs.
digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and crude fat,
but did not influence the digestibility of crude protein References
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non-heated cassava chips are unfit for inclusion in non- Journal of Nutrition, 66: 199-208.
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