摘要：The effects of three isocaloric leguminous based diets on the digestibility of neutral lipids and phospholipids in albino rats were investigated. Proximate analyses of each of the beans and formulated diets were carried out to determine crude protein , crude fat, crude fibre, total ash, moisture and carbohydrate contents. A total of thirty (30) albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) were used for the study. The rats were divided into three groups of ten rats each and maintained on Soyabean-Based Diet (SBD) (Control), Cowpea-Based Diet (CBD) and Hyacinth Bean-based Diet (HBD) for a period of five weeks. At the end of the experiment, the brain, liver, heart and the kidney of the rats were isolated and the neutral lipids and phospholipids contents of each organ were estimated. Rats maintained on Cowpea-Based Diet (CBD) had the lowest weight gain when compared with those fed on the HBD and SBD respectively. The results revealed that the neutral lipids and phospholipids of CBD show a significantly reduced (p<0.05) digestibility than HBD and SBD. The significantly reduced (p<0.05) digestibility of lipids in CBD may be considered to be partly responsible for the lower growth rate of rats maintained on this diet.
