RESUMO
The breeding of guinea pig is part of the pluriactivity for millions of farming families in rural areas from the Peruvian Andean and Amazonian regions and other South American Andean countries. Rearing these specie plays an important source of employment, income, and nutrition for millions of rural families on these countries. The search of natural products for enhancing animal wellbeing, health, and production and thereby of guinea pigs is being searched nowadays. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the ripe fruit powder of Morinda citrifolia on the physiological and productive performance parameters of reared guinea pigs under humid tropical conditions and to find a new use of noni fruit and to improve the guinea pig as an agrifood product. For this purpose, forty-eight male Peru breed guinea pigs sixty days old, were used and distributed into four treatments with diets containing 0, 2, 4 and 8% of the noni ripe fruit powder, with four replicates and 3 guinea pigs each. Erythrocytes, hematocrit, hemoglobin profiles, hematological indices MCV (mean cell volume), MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration), MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin) and blood metabolites profiles: TP (total protein), ALB (albumin), GLO (globulin), TC (total cholesterol) were determined. The productive performance indices: DWG (daily weight gain), DCFI (daily concentrated feed intake), TFIFM (total feed intake of fresh matter) and TFIDM (total feed intake of dry matter), FRCFM (feed rate conversion for fresh mater) and FRCDM (feed rate conversion for dry matter) were evaluated. The guinea pigs were evaluated at 60, 75 and 90 days old. The interaction between noni fruit powder and the age of guinea pigs produced an increase in the erythrocyte, hematocrit, MCH and MCHC levels at 75 days old, (p < 0.05). The final weight and the daily weight gain increased, while the feed rate conversion for fresh and dry matter decreased, as the level of noni fruit powder in the diet increased until 4% (p < 0.05). Thus, the level of noni ripe fruit powder in the guinea pigs' diets had a positive effect on the erythrocyte, leucocytes, hematocrit, MCH, MCHC levels, the final weight, the daily weight gain, and the feed rate conversion of fresh and dry matter.
RESUMO
Noni (Morinda citrifolia) fruit is a well-known plant used as a traditional medicine for preventing some diseases because of its abundance in chemical compounds. This research aimed to determine the phytochemical concentration, chemical composition, and antifungal activity of M. citrifolia fruit extract. M. citrifolia fruit was extracted with methanol and then distilled water for the partition extract. Subsequently, the extract was fractionated using various nonpolar to polar solutions, such as; chloroform, ethyl acetate, water, 2-propanol, and methanol fractions. Each fraction was evaporated until the dry extract was released. Additionally, the photochemical concentration of the M. citrifolia fruit extract was quantitatively determined using a UV-visible spectrophotometer. The chemical composition of the M. citrifolia fruit extract of each fraction was identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Then, the antifungal activity of M.citrifolia fruit extract against C. albicans and C. krusei was determined using the disc diffusion method. The results showed that the phytochemical concentration of the M. citrifolia fruit extract was 1970.25 ppm flavonoids, 35.61 ppm tannins, and 148.62 ppm steroids. 2-Fluorobenzoic acid, eucalyptol, 2-chloroaniline-5-sulfonic acid, hexa-decamethyl octasiloxane, and tetra-propyl stannane were found to be the major components of M. citrifolia fruit extract. According to the research, M. citrifolia fruit extract showed antifungal activity against C. albicans and C. krusei in all tested fractions. The maximum inhibition zone of C. albicans was 14.0 ± 1.00 mm in the 2-propanol fraction, while that of C. krusei was 11.7 ± 0.58 mm in the methanol fraction.