Tobacco Seeds By-Product as Protein Source for Piglets

Tobacco seed cake is a by-product with interesting characteristics for animal nutrition, due to its high protein content. The focus of this study is to evaluate if tobacco seed cake, administered in feed, can affect principal serum metabolic parameters of weaned piglets in order to establish if it can be used as both a delivery system of edible vaccines and an alternative protein source in piglets diet. A total of 48 weaned piglets were divided in two homogeneous groups for weight, control (CG) and treatment (TG); TG and CG were fed ad libitum with two isoenergetic and isoproteic experi- mental diets (CP: 17.68% CG and 17.64% TG) differentiated for the inclusion of 4% of tobacco seed cake in the TG diet in replacement of wheat bran and soybean meal. Growth performances were evaluated and feed intake was meas- ured weekly. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 20 and 43 to evaluate hematocrit and principal metabolic pa- rameters, in order to assess the health status of the animals. The administration of tobacco did not impaire health status and growth performance of piglets. The use of bioenergy co-products from non-food crops may represent a good ap- proach creating an integration between biofuel and food production, with consequent benefits for food security and en- vironmental impact.