Effect of the addition of malt radicle on the broiler feed: physico-chemical composition and meat fatty acid profile

Abstract

This study analyzed the chemical composition and the fatty acids (FA) profile of meats (chest and thigh/on-thigh) from broilers fed with different malt radicle amounts (10% and 20%) and control feed. The experiment consisted of three treatments and five replicates, with 10 birds for experimental unit. Treatment with 20% radicle decreased (p > 0.05) the lipids contents (2.78 ± 0.23%, 15.40 ± 0.24%) and the total saturated fatty acids (SFA) (0.75 ± 0.03 g/100 g; 4.33 ± 0.03 g/100 g) in both chest cut and thigh/on-thigh meats, respectively. No change in the total contents of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs and PUFAs) was noted after adding the malt radicle into thigh/on-thigh meats. However, the addition of 20% of malt radicle reduced the total amount of MUFAs (0.85 ± 0.04 g/100 g) and PUFAs (0.88 ± 0.08 g/100 g) in the chest meat. The increase of 10% of radicle in the feed promoted an enhancement of total PUFAs (1.81 ± 0.03 g/100 g), of n-6/n-3 ratio (21.66 ± 0.08) and PUFAs/SFA (1.24 ± 0.06) in chest meat. The use of malt radicle is a viable alternative for feeding broilers, which provides beneficial changes in the SFA, MUFAs and PUFAs profiles, especially in the bird chest meat.