Determinant production factors to the in vitro organic matter digestibility and protein oxidation of poultry by-product meal.

The quality of poultry by-product meal (PBM) is not standardized in the industry. Several factors are detrimental to PBM and compromise its nutritional value and shelf life. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the main PBM production factors that directly affect its in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVDOM) and protein oxidation (POX). Data on the processing of PBM samples (n = 100) were recorded in a rendering plant. Two types of PBM were used: 1) Low ash (LA, n = 66) with mineral matter (MM) content of 11% and 2) High ash (HA, n = 34) with MM above 11%. Processing traits and chemical composition of PBM were considered independent variables. The IVDOM and POX were determined in each sample and considered dependent variables. Data on independent variables were submitted to factorial and principal components (PC) analyses. In vitro organic matter digestibility data were clustered (P = 0.001) in low (778.92 g/kg), average (822.85 g/kg), and high (890.06 g/kg). The best arrangement was composed of six independent variables distributed in two PC, which explained 82.10% of the total variation. The ash concentration, oil to raw material ratio, collagen, and crude protein comprised PC1 with greater relevance and explained 58.46% of the total variance. The PC2 was composed of the processing time and temperature and explained 23.64% of the total variance. Protein oxidation data were clustered (P < 0.001) in low (265.19 nmol/mg CP), average (393.07 nmol/mg CP), and high (524.40 nmol/mg CP). Based on our results, the composition of the raw material from the slaughterhouse holds most of the information on PBM composition and digestibility. Developing improvements in the slaughtering or in the screening of the raw material that will be used by the rendering process is important to obtain a more nutritionally standardized ingredient.

Homeopathic Products as a Complementary Dietary Additive for Pigs in their Growing and Finishing Phases.

BACKGROUND: Homeopathic products (HP) have been proposed for the prevention of disease and as a complementary dietary additive in pig farming, with resulting improved performance and quality of life of the animals and with benefits for food safety. The aim of this study was to assess the addition of HP to pig feed and its effects on growth performance, dietary protein utilization, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, and economic feasibility. METHODS: A total of 80 male pigs, body weight 32.8±2.3kg, were allocated in a randomized design, with two treatments of 10 replications and four animals per experimental unit. Treatments were composed of a control diet (CD) or CD+HP (Finalvitaplus+Figotonus, 1.1kg/ton feed of each product). The outcome measures used were growth performance (body weight gain) and feed efficiency (body weight gain per unit of feed consumed), efficiency of dietary protein utilization (blood urea nitrogen), nutrient digestibility (apparent digestibility coefficient and apparent nutrient digestibility), meat quality (including pH, temperature, color, liquid loss by cooking and thawing, intramuscular fat and meat tenderness), and economic feasibility (cost of the diets). RESULTS: There was no effect (p >0.05) of treatments on growth performance of the pigs, though the group that received HP showed an 8.93% greater feed efficiency than the control group (p=0.077). The animals in the control group had a 14.37% higher blood urea nitrogen concentration in the finishing I phase (70-100kg body weight) compared with those fed HP (p=0.028), indicating lower protein utilization in the controls. There was comparative improvement in digestibility coefficient and in nutrient digestibility in pigs fed HP in the growing-finishing phase (p <0.05). There was no differential effect of treatments on meat quality or economic feasibility (p >0.05). CONCLUSION: The addition of HP to the diet of growing-finishing pigs produced some improvement in their dietary protein utilization, nutrient digestibility and feed efficiency, though it did not affect their growth performance, meat quality or economic feasibility.

Characterization of the variations in the industrial processing and nutritional variables of poultry by-product meal.

The study aimed to measure variations in industrial process and nutritional variables of poultry by-product meal (PBM) in rendering plants from batch cookers. A total of 200 samples of low ash PBM with mineral matter (MM) content of 11% (LA, n = 104) or high ash with MM above 11% (HA, n = 96) were collected from 5 industrial processing plants. The highest coefficients of variation in chemical composition were for MM (LA - 19.70%; HA - 19.59%), ether extract (LA - 20.72%; HA - 14.86%), collagen (LA - 21.16%; HA - 30.00%) and water activity (LA - 24.54%; HA - 25.89%). However, the crude protein (LA - 5.07%; HA - 7.39%), dry matter (LA - 1.75%; HA - 2.90%) and organic matter digestibility (LA - 4.81%; HA - 6.78%) were lower. The variability of the data related to the process of PBM was: maximum process temperature (LA - 3.91%; HA - 3.56%), average process temperature (LA - 3.73%; HA - 4.71%), and processing time (LA - 27.37%; HA - 37.59%). This study evidenced that the corrective measures by limiting the amount of bones in the raw material, optimizing the pressing step for the poultry fat extraction, and also controlling the processing time of PBM may favor the production of more standardized PBM in terms of chemical composition and quality.