A seventy-day feeding trial was conducted with one hundred and twenty 7-day old Anak 2000 broiler chicks to study the effects of fermentation of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) fruit peels on its replacement value as a dietary energy source. Sweet orange peels fermented for duration of 0, 24 and 48hrs and thereafter dried and ground were used to each replace maize in the control diet at 30% level. The chicks were divided into four groups, each group replicated three times at the rate of ten chicks per replicate. A group each was assigned to one of the four isonitrogenous diets: CD (control), SP0D SP24D and SP48D, compounded. The performance, carcass quality and weights of the visceral organs were evaluated.

Fermentation of sweet orange peels depressed the mean feed intake, body weight gain and live weight of broilers among the treatment groups highly significantly (p < 0.01) the longer its duration. The performance of broilers in the orange peel based diets was inferior to the control. Fermentation of sweet orange peels caused significant disproportionate growth in % live weight of shoulder (p < 0.05) and neck + back (p < 0.01). Utilization of sweet orange peels significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the % live weight of the abdominal fat thus improving the nutritive value of the meat. Kidney was the only visceral organ significantly affected (p < 0.05) by the diets.

The fermentation procedure in this study has proved inadequate to harness the nutritional potential of the sweet orange fruit peel.