Red dragon fruit peel (Hylocereus polyrhizus) as feed biosupplement on performance of fattening rabbits

Peels of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) as an agricultural by-product contain antioxidants and nutrients that can be used as one of the raw materials for animal feed. This study aims to determine the effect of various concentrations of peels of red dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus) as feed biosupplement on the performance of fattening rabbits. 20 rabbits were placed in individual cages and adapted to basal feed. They were fed with addition of the supplement concentration at 0% (DP0), 7% (DP7), 8% (DP8), and 9% (DP9) respectively for four weeks. Data were collected during the first, second, third and fourth weeks (including twenty-eight days) in the form of feed consumption, feed conversion, and weight gain. Data were subsequently analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with a 5% significance level. The results indicated the significance between the control treatment (DFP0%) and other treatments. The treatment with the addition of 9% biosupplement of the dragon fruit peel showed the highest performance improvement, with a mean value of feed consumption of 165.95 grams/day, mean of feed conversion of 3.61 and weight gain of 703.29 grams. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the addition of fermented dragon fruit peel into the Rex rabbit feed can improve several aspects of rabbit performance.