Evaluation of tomato crop by-products as feed for goats

The potential nutritive value of tomato by-products, both fruits and vegetative parts, was assessed by chemical analyses as well as by organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) in sacco degradability and in vitro organic matter digestibility. Tomato fruits contained 69 g dry matter (DM) per kg fresh fruit and the average composition, per kg DM, was 923 g OM, 28 g ether extract (EE), 170 g CP and 260 g ash-free neutral detergent fibre (NDFom). Whole tomato plants contained 177 g DM per kg fresh plant and their average composition, per kg DM,was 819 g OM, 12 g EE, 74g CP and 457 g NDFom. Effective ruminal degradable and in vitro digestible OM content of tomato fruits were 534 and 583 g/kg DM, respectively, and those of tomato plants were 274 and 474 g/kg DM. Effective degradable CP content of tomato fruits and plants was, respectively, 33 and 20 g/kg DM. Daily ingestion of fresh tomato fruits more than 1.5 kg(about 100 g DM)caused soft faeces in goats. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.