Farelo de semente de abacate desengordurado na dieta de frangos de corte

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate defatted avocado seed meal (DASM) in broiler diets. In Experiment I, the digestibility of DASM was assessed. For this purpose, 42 male Ross AP95 broilers, 10 days old, were distributed in a completely randomized design (CRD) with two treatments (reference diet – RD; and diet with 20% DASM – AD), seven replicates, and three birds per metabolic cage. After five days of adaptation and five days of total excreta collection, digestibility and metabolizability coefficients were determined. DASM had 87.77% dry matter (DM), 4.24% crude protein (CP), 15.96% crude fiber (CF), 19.26% acid detergent fiber (ADF), 26.93% neutral detergent fiber (NDF), 10.63% lignin, and 38.54% starch, with gross energy (GE) of 3971 kcal/kg. The apparent metabolizable energy (AME) was 1088.97 kcal/kg of DM, and the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) was 1070.20 kcal/kg of DM, with a metabolizability coefficient of 22.03%. Phenolic compounds such as catechin, epicatechin, phenolic acids, furan derivatives, and unsaturated fatty acids were identified. In Experiments II and III, the effects of DASM inclusion from 1 to 21 and from 1 to 42 days of age were evaluated. A total of 720 male Ross AP95 broilers were distributed in a CRD with five levels of DASM (0.0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0%), eight replicates, and 18 birds per experimental unit. The inclusion of DASM in the diets did not influence (P>0.05) feed intake, body weight, or broiler weight gain. However, feed conversion ratio showed linear and quadratic effects (P=0.0007). In the cecal content, acetic and propionic acid concentrations were not affected, whereas butyric acid increased linearly and quadratically (P=0.0001) with increasing DASM inclusion. Villus height, villus-to-crypt ratio, and absorption area were not affected (P>0.05), while crypt depth showed linear and quadratic responses (P=0.0060). Meat tenderness improved (P=0.0003) with increasing DASM inclusion, and cooking loss showed a quadratic effect (P=0.0012). The results indicate that DASM can be included in diets without compromising performance, health, or meat quality, and may contribute to increased production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and improved meat tenderness. At 42 days of age (Experiment III), DASM inclusion did not affect (P>0.05) bird performance. In the cecal content, linear and quadratic increases were observed in acetic acid (P=0.0009) and butyric acid (P=0.0001), while propionic acid remained unchanged (P=0.9397). In intestinal morphometry, villus height showed linear and quadratic effects (P=0.0010), crypt depth showed a quadratic effect (P=0.0337), villus-to-crypt ratio showed linear and quadratic effects (P=0.0084), and absorption area also showed a quadratic response (P=0.0021). Blood biochemical parameters were not affected (P>0.05).