Energia metabolizável dos óleos de soja, de milho, de algodão e gordura de aves para codornas e frangos de corte

Abstract

The increasing nutritional demands of poultry have led to the need for feed formulations with higher energy density, which is essential for birds to express their full productive potential. Oils and fats increase the energy value of feeds, improve palatability, and facilitate the digestion and absorption of other nutrients, in addition to being rich sources of unsaturated fatty acids. Their inclusion in diets provides several benefits, including reducing feed dustiness and waste, decreasing the rate of passage of feed through the gastrointestinal tract, enhancing the utilization of other dietary components, supplying essential fatty acids, enabling the use of alternative raw materials, reducing heat increment, and improving feed conversion. In this context, the aim of this study was to conduct a literature review on the production chain of Japanese and European quails and broiler chickens, the use of oils and fats in poultry nutrition, and the characteristics of the lipid sources under study (Chapter I), as well as to determine the metabolizable energy values of different lipid sources for poultry (Chapter II). In Experiment I, 120 European quails (Coturnix coturnix coturnix) were allocated in a completely randomized design with a reference diet and four test diets containing different vegetable oils: refined soybean oil (RSO), distillers corn oil (DCO), crude cottonseed oil (CCO), and semi-purified cottonseed oil (SPCO). In Experiment II, 216 Cobb broiler chickens were distributed in a randomized block design with a reference diet and five test diets incorporating different vegetable oils (RSO, DCO, CCO, SPCO) as well as poultry fat (PF). The total excreta collection method was used in both experiments to assess nutrient digestibility and the metabolizable energy values of the different lipid sources. The results indicated differences in the values of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and nitrogen corrected metabolizable energy (AMEn) among the tested oils. It was concluded that the different vegetable oils used in quail diets presented varying AME and AMEn values: RSO (4780 and 4750 kcal/kg), DCO (6349 and 6286 kcal/kg), CCO (6748 and 5979 kcal/kg), and SPCO (6591 and 6667 kcal/kg), respectively. Similarly, for broiler chickens, the vegetable oils and poultry fat also showed variations in AME and AMEn values: RSO (7862 and 7861 kcal/kg), DCO (9546 and 8640 kcal/kg), CCO (6748 and 6815 kcal/kg), SPCO (7981 and 7914 kcal/kg), and PF (9447 and 9333 kcal/kg), respectively.