May Use Spent Tea-leaves As An Animal Food

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 237, 7 October 1942, Page 2

May Use Spent Tea-leaves As An Animal Food

rvURING the past century tea drinking has enormously increased in the United Kingdom and throughout the Empire. Such quantities are used, even in these days of rationing, that an English agricultural college has explored the possibility o? utilising spent tealeaves as a maintenance food for animals. By A. W. B. Powell The pre-war figures for annual tea consumption in British countries showed the following interesting comparisons—United Kingdom, 9.21b per head, Eire 8.2, Australia 7.0, New Zealand 6.7, and Canada 3.61b per head. Although total consumption in the United States was high, the rate was only 0.7 per head. Even lower figures were recorded for both the Soviet Union and Germany, each showing 0.21b annual consumption per person. Big Tonnage Available It is obvious that the spent tealeaves from a country of the population of Great Britain represents a big tonnage of waste material; roughly about 200,000 tons before the war. If some use can be made of this otherwise wasted material then wartime economy is served in no small measure. An idea of the chemical composition of spent tea-leaves is given by the following results of analysis of tea-leaves taken from the urn and pots at the Harper Adams College. The sample was found to contain 84.2 per cent of water and 15.8 per cent of dry substance, so that a lb of these wet leaves was equivalent to nearly 3oz of air-dry meal.

The dry matter was found to contain 26.1 per cent crude protein, 14.2 per cent fibre, 1.2 per cent oil, and 4.6 per cent mineral matter. The high percentage of crude protein is probably deceptive, however, since much of it is almost certainly in an indigestible form owing to the rather high tannin content of the leaves. Broadly speaking, spent tea-leaves may be regarded as a rough substitute for bran, though rather higher in fibre and lower in digestible protein. Since English small scale rabbitkeepers have long realised the value of tea-leaves as a food for these animals, it was with the rabbit that a series of interesting experiments was carried out. Use For Rabbits Tea-leaves were taken daily straight from the drainer and fed as soon as possible, since they quickly go mouldy, especially in hot weather. They were readily taken by the rabbits, and their consumption reduced the intake of drinking water and stimulated the consumption of hay. Eventually it was found that 12.5 per cent of the normal food of the rabbits could be replaced by tealeaves without impairing either the health, growth or fur of the animals.

Even with the replacement of concentrates to the extent of 20 per cent, it was found that the animals could be kept in body-condition, although a lower percentage of tealeaves was essential to avoid arresting normal growth.

The experiment was restricted to the test animal, the rabbit, which appears to be partial to tea-leaves in any case. Further experiments on a variety of farm and domestic animals are necessary to determine the value of tea-leaves relative to these animals. After all, no one in this country is likely to be particularly anxious concerning the welfare ol the rabbit alone.