This study was designed to investigate the nutritional effect of mugwort powder supplementation to rice diets with different protein levels.
Thirty female albino rats weighing 3943g were adopted for the feeding trial for 4 weeks. The different 5 kind of experimental diets were performed. Control diet was commercially available forage for rats, experimetal diet (I-C) highly milled rice, (I) highly milled rice 95% and mugwort powder 5%, (II-C) highly milled rice 95% and milk casein 5%, and (II) highly milled rice .90%, milk casein 5%, and mugwort powder 5%.
Growth rate was remarkably high in the dietary group fed on highy milled rice supplemented with 5% mugwort,powder (protein 8%) (P< 0.05), but it showed the tendency to be rather low in the group fed on highly milled rice supplemented with 5% casein and 5% mugwort powder (protein 12%). Food efficiency as well as protein efficiency appeared similar to the growth rate. Hematocrit level demonstrated the same tendency as growth rate, but hemoglobin content was observed to increase by diets supplemented with increasing amount of mugwort regardless of protein level. Each nutrient intake was increased by adding mugwort powder to diets after a week´s feeding, but it was incrcased by 8% protein diet, and decreased by 12% protein diet in 3 weeks as well as 4 weeks ´after feeding. The absorption rate of carbohydrate and protein decreased by feeding mugwort supplemented diets regardless of protein level and feeding period, and that of lipid increased with 1290/ protein diet.
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