Abstract
This experiment was conducted to find out the effects of 5% dried water hyacinth and 3% fresh water hyacinth (dry base) supplementation to a commercial pig diet, on the growth, carcass qualities, gastrointestinal tract and muscle weights, sensory qualities and the composition of the fatty acids of the Longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle in pigs. The experiment showed that the supplementation of water hyacinth in its dry form or fresh form did not have any significant effects on the daily weight gains, feed conversion ratio, carcass weights and dressing percentages. The results revealed that the 5% dried water hyacinth supplemented diet caused a reduction in the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids and increased saturated fatty acids in the LT muscle. The sensory evaluation results showed that juiciness and overall acceptability of the 5% dried water hyacinth treated meat resulted in higher score (p<0.05). These results imply the possibility of water hyacinth to be used as a feed supplement in commercial pig diet both in 3% fresh basis and 5% dry basis.
