There is no direct relationship between serum or urinary thiocyanate and growth performance and carcass characteristics in rabbits (Omole and Sonaiya 1981, Omole and Onwudike 1982). However, none of the studies reported for rabbits used a variety of cassava that is high in hydrocyanic acid. It is also possible that rabbits may be less sensitive to HCN intake than some other livestock species. It will be safe, however, to process the cassava products before they are incorporated in the diet.
There are various cassava processing techniques such as cooking, sun-drying, oven-drying, roasting, soaking, ensiling or fermentation and pulping of the tuber. No single processing technique will completely eliminate the HCN content of cassava products. While sun-drying may substantially reduce the HCN content of cassava tuberous roots, Omole (1977) suggested that the heating process during rapid drying may degrade the hydrolytic enzymes of glucosides and thereby prevent the release of free HCN. These views have been confirmed by Gomez et al. (1984) who indicated that more than 86% of the HCN present in cassava was lost during sun-drying, and also Devendra (1977) who indicated a reduction of HCN by about 50% in oven-drying at 36°C for 24 hours (table 13).