Common names
- Copra meal, copra cake, coconut meal, coconut cake, expeller copra meal, expeller copra cake
- Dessicated coconut waste, paring meal
Scientific name
Description
The coconut palm (Cocos nucifera L.) is one of the most useful tropical trees. A multipurpose tree, it is used for food, beverage, shelter, animal feed and is grown industrially for the edible oil contained in the flesh of its fruits. The tree can survive 50 years without needing much attention and the fruits drop all year long (Canapi et al., 2005). The nut (structure) has a smooth epidermis over a fibrous mesocarp (husk) that covers the hard endocarp (shell). A thin brown layer (testa) separates the shell from the endosperm (kernel, flesh, meat), which is approximately 1-2 cm thick. A cavity within the kernel contains the coconut water (Canapi et al., 2005).
The major coconut by-product is the copra meal, which is the residue of the oil extraction from dried coconut kernels, or copra. The main process (see Processes below) consists in crushing the dried copra in a mechanical press. The resulting copra cake is the most common product, but it can be further treated with solvents to extract residual oil. Depending on the oil extraction method, the oil residue in the marketed product ranges from 1% to 22% (Göhl, 1982). On average, 1000 nuts produce yields 180 kg of copra, and then 110 kg of oil and 55 kg of meal (Göhl, 1982). There is also a wet process that uses fresh kernels and provides high grade oil as well as valuable nutriments that are usually lost in the dry process (Canapi et al., 2005). In English, the terms copra cake and copra meal sometimes refer to the mechanically-extracted product (expeller copra meal) and to the solvent-extracted one respectively (FAO/IAEA, 2001). However, the names are often interchangeable in practice and this datasheet will use copra meal as a generic term to designate the oil by-product.
In addition to copra meal, other coconut products can be used to feed animals:
- Copra itself is usually too expensive to use as an animal feed, though it has been fed to pigs and poultry with good results. As copra oil contains only small amounts of unsaturated fatty acids, its consumption leads to firm body fat and good flavour (Göhl, 1982).
- Fresh coconut flesh and parings obtained after processing coconuts for direct human consumption are sometimes extracted to produce high-quality cooking oil or cosmetics (Aregheore, 2005; Göhl, 1982). The resulting oil meal is considered of higher value than copra meal: it contains a protein of higher biological value than that of coconut meal because it is not heat processed and it has more vitamins (Göhl, 1982; Grimwood et al., 1976).
- Young coconut leaves are relished by livestock but removing the leaves damages the tree and animals should not enter coconut fields before the coconut trees are high enough (Fuller, 2004).
- Coconut pith resulting from the fibre extraction is a rich source of soluble carbohydrates and is a potential source of energy for livestock (Viswanathan, 1980).
- Coconut water is usually wasted when the nuts are split open. The dry matter content of coconut water declines as the nut matures and is a meagre source of nutrients when the nuts are harvested for copra (Göhl, 1982).
- Other by-products of little or no feed value include the sediments recovered from the filter pads of the oil-straining presses, the coconut husks and the dust from processing the husks into fibre (coir dust), which has been suggested as a carrier for molasses (Göhl, 1982).
Distribution
Coconut palms mainly grow in coastal areas of the tropics and subtropics. They require a hot moist climate with average annual temperatures between 20-28°C, average annual rainfall ranging from 1000 to 1500 mm and deep alluvial or loamy soils (Orwa et al., 2009).
Copra meal is available worldwide. In 2010, world copra production was 5.2 million tons and world copra meal production was 1.86 million tons. The main producer of copra and coconut oil is the Philippines (42 % of the oil production in 2009), followed by Indonesia (25 %) and India (12 %). Half of the production of copra meal is sold for export and the Philippines alone exports 0.5 million tons (62.5 % of its production) (FAO, 2011; Oil World, 2011; IndexMundi, 2010).
Processes
Oil extraction
The coconuts are dehusked, split in halves, drained of coconut water and the halves are exposed to the sun for about a week until copra contains 6-8 % water. Sun-drying is the cheapest method but if the weather is wet there is a risk of mold growth and aflatoxin contamination. Solar dryers reduce drying time by 3-4 and yield products less likely to be contaminated. Coconut husks and shells can be used as fuel for artificial drying on bamboo grill platforms. Direct exposure to smoke may give a light brown colour to copra and oil. Dryers equipped with a steel plate bottom give cleaner products (Canapi et al., 2005; Kurian et al., 2007). The dried copra is ground, flaked and cooked until moisture is brought down to 3 %. The oil is mechanically extracted from the flakes using an expeller machine, resulting in a low-coloured oil and a copra cake containing about 7% oil. This cake can can be pelletized and used as a feed, or solvent extracted using hexane, resulting in meal containing less than 3.5 % oil (Canapi et al., 2005).
Environmental impact
Coconut water
Copra production yields large amounts of coconut water whose nutritive value is very low when the coconut ripens. The coconut water may become an environmental concern if it is released in the environment and there have been attempts to use it as a substrate for growing food yeast and bacteria. It is also used as semen extender for artificial insemination (Taffin, 1993; Göhl, 1982).
Methane reduction
Coconut oil is particularly efficient to defaunate the rumen and reduce methane production. Copra meal gives comparable decreases in CH4 to refined coconut oil but decreased performance with copra meal would result in an extended finishing time, which has implications for CH4 emissions and production economics because of a longer animal lifetime (Jordan et al., 2006).
Caution
Rancidity
The high oil content of copra meal renders it susceptible to rancidity and the product should not be used after a prolonged storage. Rancidity makes copra meal unpalatable and animals can start rejecting it even when there are no obvious signs of rancidity (Ehrlich et al., 1990). Rancidity may also cause diarrhoea (Göhl, 1982)
The wet by-product from the oil extraction of fresh coconut flesh is highly perishable. It quickly becomes rancid and develops a foul smell, and must be used as soon as possible after processing or dried in the sun or by other cheap means. Insufficient drying results in unpleasant flavour and odour that affect intake and may cause a total rejection of the diet (Aregheore, 2005).
Aflatoxins
During the sun-drying process, split coconuts are susceptible to molds and subsequent aflatoxin contamination. It mostly occurs when drying time is too short (2-3 days vs 5-7 days) or when the weather is wet (FAO/IAEA, 2001). In order to prevent mold growth, it is recommended to withdraw the coconuts that have been damaged during dehusking and to avoid contact between split coconuts and the soil as the latter it is a source of contamination. Copra meal should not contain more than 12% moisture and should be stored in a well-aerated place (FAO/IAEA, 2001).
Nutritional interest
Copra meal is a common feed ingredient, particularly for ruminants. It contains 20-25 % DM of crude protein and relatively high quantities of cell wall constituents (NDF > 50 % DM, ADF about 30 % DM), so that its nutritive value is inferior to that of the other major oil meals, notably soybean meal, groundnut meal and cottonseed meal. Unlike those by-products, copra meal is often obtained from mechanical extraction only and its oil content is generally quite high (about 10 % DM, in the 5-15 % range with values higher than 20 %). The oil content makes it a valuable energy source, particularly in areas where such sources are scarce (Daghir, 2008). The less common solvent-extracted copra meal contains less oil (about 3 % DM) and a little more protein (Feedipedia, 2011). Coconut oil is different from other common vegetable oils because it contains over 60% of medium-chain fatty acids (C8-C12).
A particularity of copra meal is its high non-starch polysaccharides content, and notably its levels of mannan and galactomannan (25-30 %), which are known to have antinutritional properties in monogastric species (Sundu et al., 2009). These constituents are also the cause of the low bulk density (0.56 g/cm3 vs 0.75 for soybean meal) and high water holding capacity (4.14 g water/g feed vs 2.77 for soybean meal) of copra meal, and those physical properties tend to limit intake (Sundu et al., 2009). However, copra meal can absorb up to half its own weight of molasses, which can be a useful property in compound feed manufacturing (McDonald et al., 2002).
Copra meal is poor in essential amino acids, notably lysine and sulphur amino acids (Sundu et al., 2009). Lysine may be partly destroyed by the heating during oil extraction (Pascoal et al., 2006). Amino acid supplementation may be therefore required.
Ruminants
Copra meal
Copra meal is a valuable feed for ruminants and can be used as a protein supplement for grass-fed animals, either alone or in combination with other protein sources. While theoretically inferior to other common oil meals due to its lower protein content, it is often a better feed resource than other local products such as cocoa by-products or brewer’s grains (Aregheore et al., 2003). It found to be as effective as cottonseed meal for growth performance despite of having half of the protein content, and it has been advanced that the protein quality of copra meal has a higher biological value (Gulbransen et al., 1990).
Digestibility and energy values
In vivo digestibility of OM of copra meal has been measured several times, particularly in the studies comparing the in vitro,in sacco, the nutritive value of copra meal with other ingredients (Orskov et al., 1992; Chandrasekharaiah et al., 2001;Nguyen Nhut Xuan Dung et al., 2002; Woods et al., 2003a; Woods et al., 2003b; Carvalho et al., 2005; Chapoutot et al., 2010). Due to the low level of lignification of its cell wall, the digestibility of NDF in copra meal is high, comparable to that of maize by-products and soybean hulls. As a consequence, in vivo OM digestibility of copra meal is good (75-85%) considering its fairly high NDF content (Woods et al., 1999; Sauvant et al., 2004; Aregheore et al., 2005). Higher values have been proposed for solvent-extracted meal than for expeller meal (85 % vs 79 %, Schiemann, 1981). For the expeller meal, an OMD value of 76 % (12.1 MJ/kg DM) has been proposed recently (Sauvant et al., 2004).
Protein value
The fraction of rapidly fermentable N in the rumen of coconut meal is low, with values ranging from 19% (Sauvant et al., 2004), 20.1% (Kiran et al., 2007), to 22.4% (Mondal et al., 2008). Therefore, if transit is taken into account, the effective degradability of copra protein is fairly low, about 50% (Woods et al., 2003a; Woods et al., 2003b, Sauvant et al., 2004,Mondal et al., 2008). The intestinal digestibility of copra meal by-pass protein, about 90%, is rather high compared to other feed ingredients (Woods et al., 2003c; Sauvant et al., 2004; Carvalho et al., 2005; Pereira et al., 2010).
Palatability
There are conflicting reports about palatability of copra meal. It was found to be very palatable and readily accepted by cattle (Gulbransen et al., 1990) but other authors observed that it decreased voluntary intake (Oliveira et al., 2010; Camacho Diaz et al., 2006). In one experiment with dairy cows, copra meal was not palatable initially and required about two weeks training to achieve satisfactory intakes, which then started to decrease (Ehrlich et al., 1990). The susceptibility of copra meal to rancidity after prolonged storage could cause such palatability issues, even when no obvious signs of rancidity are noticed (Oliveira et al., 2010; Ehrlich et al., 1990).
Dairy cows
Copra meal is a good ingredient of dairy rations and provides energy and by-pass protein. 1.5-2 kg/d have been recommended as the maximum safe amount (Göhl, 1982) but cows have been fed more than 3 kg/d without adverse effects (Ehrlich et al., 1990). Copra meal has been shown to be a suitable supplement for cows grazing tropical pastures in Fiji and adding 1.8 kg/day of copra meal to the diet increased milk production by 70% (McIntyre, 1973). Cows grazing Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and copra meal providing 300 g/d of protein increased production by at least 1 kg/day (Muinga et al., 1993). Less impressive results have been obtained on richer pastures, but copra meal could still replace sorghum grain and increase the fat content of the milk (Ehrlich et al., 1990). Earlier research suggests that copra meal makes butterfat harder, lending it a pleasant flavour, but that large quantities of copra meal may result in tallowy butter (Göhl, 1982).
Beef cattle
Copra meal is a good supplement for grazing steers. Animals fed up to 1 kg/day of pelleted copra meal had a much higher growth rate than unsupplemented animals (0.41 vs 0.11 kg/d) (Gulbransen et al., 1990). In growing steers grazing on giant stargrass (Cynodon plectostachyus), supplementation with copra meal gave higher growth rates than supplementation with soybean meal (Ramos et al., 1998). Steers grazing Imperata cylindrica supplemented with copra meal, alone or treated with molasses and urea also had higher growth rates (Galgal et al., 2000). Average daily gains of 0.99 kg/day and diet intake of 3.2 kg/day were recorded on grazing buffaloes fed a supplement containing 70 % copra meal. While these performances were satisfactory, they were lower than those obtained with a maize/soybean meal supplement and a 70% palm kernel meal supplement, possibly due to the lower palatability of copra meal (Oliveira et al., 2010).
Using copra meal in growing heifers resulted in decreased performance compared to a barley-soybean meal diet supplemented with copra oil. It was as efficient in reducing CH4 production as this control diet but the environmental benefit was cancelled by a longer finishing time (Jordan et al., 2006).
Sheep
Copra meal can be a suitable supplement for sheep and other ruminants consuming tropical pastures (Hammond et al., 1993; Galgal et al., 1994). Copra inclusion at 7.5 % of the diet MS does not have negative effects on digestibility but decreases voluntary intake due to its poor palatability or other unknown effects (Camacho Diaz et al., 2006). Pelleted copra meal given to pregnant ewes increased birth weight of twin lambs, milk yield and ewe liveweight after lambing (Bird et al., 1990).
Goats
Copra meal is often used as a protein supplement for grass-fed goats. Supplements containing up to 75 % copra meal have been used successfully in goats fed Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) (Aregheore, 2006). Substituting 50 % of copra meal with leucaena hay increased daily gain and diet digestibility (Mousoon et al., 1997), and it could be replaced by 75 % of dried brewer’s grains (Aregheore et al., 2006).
Copra meal could replace up to 50 % of soybean meal goats fed corn silage while a 75 % reduced performance (Paengkoum, 2011).
Coconut waste from the extraction of fresh coconut flesh
The by-product of oil extraction from fresh coconut flesh is a good feed for ruminants and can be used fresh or dried. It provides an acceptable and very useful protein and energy supplement (Aregheore, 2005). Based on voluntary feed intake, live weight gain and digestibility coefficients of the goats desiccated coconut waste meal based diets is interesting as a locally available feed source in ruminants nutrition in the Pacific Island countries (Aregheore et al., 2000).
Forage
Coconut orchards can be grazed when the leaves can no longer be reached by the grazing animals. It is often necessary to apply extra fertilizer to orchards that are being grazed as the coconut leaves tend to become yellow (Göhl, 1982).
Coconut water
Coconut water is sometimes fed to cattle in place of ordinary drinking water. At first it has purgative effect, but cattle soon become accustomed to it (Göhl, 1982).
Pigs
Copra meal may be an economical and valuable local feed for pigs that can be used to partially replace costly imported feeds such as soybean meal (Siebra et al., 2008; Kim et al., 2001; Thorne, 1992). However, the high fibre content of copra meal restricts its use in pig feeding. The slow digestive passage rate of fibre results in decreased feed intake, lower availability of organic matter, protein, and energy in the diet and poorer growth performances (Nguyen Nhut Xuan Dung et al., 2002; Noblet et al., 1993; Thorne et al., 1992; Lekule et al., 1986). Its low content in essential amino acids, combined to the depressing effect on amino acid digestibility, makes amino acid supplementation necessary (particularly lysine, methionine+cystine and threonine) if high levels of copra meal are to be fed (Han et al., 2003; Mee et al., 1973; Thorne et al., 1992).
Maximum recommended inclusion levels are about 20-25 % of the diet while optimum should be around 10% (Pascoal et al., 2010; Siebra et al., 2009; Siebra et al., 2008; Nguyen Nhut Xuan Dung et al., 2002; O'Doherty et al., 2000; Lekule et al., 1986; Lekule et al., 1982). This level of inclusion yielded a gain of 500 g/d daily in growing pigs in Tanzania (Lekule et al., 1982). Inclusion rates higher than 50 % depress the feed conversion ratio, but if growth performance at such rates is considered acceptable, the low cost of copra meal may decrease the cost per kg liveweight (Mael et al., 2001; Göhl, 1982).
Feeding pigs on copra meal has no deleterious effect on meat quality parameters such as fatty acids or dressing percentages (Mael et al., 2001; Kim et al., 2001). It produces firm fat in pigs (Göhl, 1982).
There is little literature on improving the nutritive value of copra meal for pigs. The addition of an enzymatic complex failed to improve it (Pascoal et al., 2010). Expander processing of a diet containing 15 % of copra meal did not affect growth performance (O'Doherty et al., 2001).
Poultry
Copra meal can be a valuable raw material in poultry diets, because of its availability at relatively low cost in some contexts.
The amino-acid profile is not optimal for poultry due to a relative lack of lysine and sulphur amino-acids. The energy value of copra meal is low because of the high fibre content though it can be increased by the high content of residual oil in expeller meals. In this case, the energy value can be estimated by combining the values of defatted copra meal and copra oil. There seem to be a difference between ME value for young chicks and older animals or hens (Baidya et al., 1995).
The low feeding value in poultry is also partly due to physical properties of copra meal. The high water holding capacity and bulk tend to decrease intake, particularly in young animals (Sundu et al., 2005; Sundu et al., 2009). There is a significant effect of copra meal on the DM content of excreta (Panigrahi, 1989; Sundu et al., 2006). This can be a problem in some conditions for the sanitary quality of poultry litter.
Broilers
Several authors observed a decrease of performance at includer levels higher than 10-20 % (Jacome et al., 2002; Sundu et al., 2004; Sundu et al., 2005; Sundu et al., 2006). Feed intake is lowered by low density and high water holding capacity of copra meal, and water consumption is increased (Panigrahi et al., 1987; Sundu et al., 2005).
Growth depression is particularly important in young animals, in which performance can be decreased with inclusion rates as low as 5 % (Bastos et al., 2007). High inclusion rates can results in a 30 to 50% drop in weight gain (Sundu et al., 2006). The effect is less strong in older animals that increase gradually their feed intake and growth performance (Panigrahi et al., 1987; Jacome et al., 2002; Sundu et al., 2005; Bastos et al., 2007).
The physical presentation of copra meal has an important effect because it modifies bulk density. It seems that crumbles (coarsely ground pellets) allow better performance than fine meal (Sundu et al., 2005; Sundu et al., 2006)
The use of enzymes (e.g. mannanases) to lower the effect of fibre fraction has been tested. In most studies, there is a significant improvement of animal performance with enzyme supplementation, compared to untreated copra meal. However, the performances are not equivalent to the control without copra meal (Sundu et al., 2004; Sundu et al., 2005; Sundu et al., 2008).
No particular effect on the quality of carcass was noted (Jacome et al., 2002; Bastos et al., 2007).
A general recommendation for using copra meal in broiler diets is to formulate feeds carefully, taking into account a good evaluation of energy level (oil content) and the amino-acid digestibility values (risk of lysine deficiency). Spoiled or mouldy samples should be avoided because of the mycotoxin risks. For optimal performance, a limit of 10 % is recommended, and no more than 5 % copra meal should be allowed in the diets of young animals. Some authors are even more restrictive (3 % and 2 % for Daghir, 2008). Presentation as crumble / pellets should be preferred to increase feed intake. However, the incorporation levels could be higher in slow growing animals, or in contexts where the low price of copra meal allows to decrease the objective of performance.
Layers
With adequate feed formulation, copra meal can be used efficiently in layer diets.
Several authors reported no performance degradation up to 20 % of high fat copra meal (Panigrahi, 1989; Braga et al., 2005; Lima et al., 2007). However with defatted copra meal, a small degradation of body weight and hen day production was observed in comparison with a control of same protein and energy content, at levels above 15 to 20% (Moorthy et al., 2006b; Moorthy et al., 2010).
It is concluded that with adequate formulation (energy, amino acids), copra meal can be used efficiently in layer diets. In layers, it can be recommended to limit incorporation to 15 %. This limit could be extended to 20 % for good quality expeller copra meal. In pullet diets, it can be up to 10 to 20 %.
Rabbits
Copra meal and coconut fibre are used in rabbit diets (Ravindran et al., 1986b; Hosein et al., 2010). Both products provide high level of fibre which is valuable for rabbits (Haponik et al., 2009). While the level and quality of protein in copra meal protein are lower than those of soybean meal, copra meal may be a valuable and economical protein source for rabbits in areas where soybean meal is expensive (Haponik et al., 2009). Copra meal is also a good source of energy for rabbits and its gross energy crude protein and oil are quite digestible (Souza et al., 2009). Copra meal can have a positive effect on rabbit meat quality: at 25% inclusion, copra meal lowers the palmitic acid content of rabbit meat without significantly affecting other fatty acids and may thus have an hypocholesterolaemic effect in humans (Souza et al., 2009).
Fish
Copra meal is a possible feed ingredient for fish though not a very good one. As a protein source, it contains much less protein than fish meal or soybean meal, and it is deficient in lysine and sulphur aminoacids. While it is a good source of arginine, there is an antagonistic effect of excess dietary arginine on lysine metabolism and animals fed high dietary levels of copra meal may suffer from lysine deficiency (Tacon et al., 2009). Supplementary lysine and methionine should be provided to fish fed copra meal (Hertrampf et al., 2000). Copra meal may also contain anti-nutritional factors, including phytic acid, tannins, and non-starch polysaccharides (Tacon et al., 2009). The high crude fibre content of copra meal is disadvantageous for aquatic feeds (Hertrampf et al., 2000).
Copra meal is more valuable to herbivorous and omnivorous fishes (at 5-15 % inclusion rates) rather than to carnivorous fishes (at 5-10 % inclusion) (Hertrampf et al., 2000).
Tilapia
Recommended inclusion levels are not consistent between authors. In Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fingerlings, copra meal included in diets at levels varying from 15 % to 30 % resulted in similar growth performance, nutrient utilization and feed conversion ratio as control diet (Santos et al., 2009; Olude et al., 2008; Pezzato et al., 2000). Lower inclusion levels (10 % copra meal in combination with 25 % fish meal) had been suggested in order to be efficient and economical (Guerrero, 1980). High digestible energy (14.8 MJ/kg) and good P availability have been reported (Pezzato et al., 2000).
In male Java tilapias (Sarotherodon mossambicus), a diet containing 25% protein from copra meal supported growth as well as the control diet, but a 50% level produced lower growth rates (Jackson et al., 1982).
Cyprinidae
In grass carp fry (Ctenopharyngodon idella), which is carnivorous until it is 25-30 mm long, copra meal had a deleterious effect on feed intake and growth performance when it replaced 33% of zooplankton in the diet or when it replaced 25% protein feed in the diet (Hasan et al., 1997; Silva et al., 1981). The poor pelletability of copra meal may make it difficult to maintain particle size during feeding, thereby affecting negatively feed intake in carps (Hasan et al., 1997).
In rohu (Labeo rohita) fingerlings,& copra meal supplemented with amino acids could replace up to 50% of fish meal and thus represent more than 60% of the diet (Mukhopadhyay, 2000). A former experiment had showed that soaking defatted copra meal, in order to remove tannins, had positive effect on inclusion level of defatted copra meal (Mukhopadhyay et al., 1999).
No comments:
Post a Comment