Inclusion of Camelina, Flax, and Sunflower Seeds in the Diets for Broiler Chickens: Apparent Digestibility of Nutrients, Growth Performance, Health Status, and Carcass and Meat Quality Traits

Abstract

The study determined the effect of the addition of 15% of camelina, flax, and sunflower seeds to iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diets for broiler chickens during 21–42 days of age on the nutrient digestibility, production traits, slaughter analysis parameters, hematological indices, blood mineral elements, and dietary value of breast and drumstick meat. Two hundred one-day-old broiler chickens were assigned to four groups (treatments) with five replicates (10 birds per cage, 5 females and 5 males). The experiment lasted 6 weeks. Broiler chickens receiving diets supplemented with camelina and flax seeds exhibited an increase (p < 0.05) in average body weight and a decrease (p < 0.05) in the ether extract content and energy digestibility of the diets. Moreover, the best carcass quality with a high proportion of muscles and low abdominal fat content (p < 0.05) was noted in broilers fed flax- and sunflower-enriched diets. The treatments with the oil seeds reduced the ether extract content and the calorific value of breast and drumstick muscles. The flax seeds contributed to an increase in the Fe content in drumstick muscles. Additionally, some blood parameters were influenced by the flax seed supplementation, e.g., the level of hemoglobin declined (p < 0.05) and the iron level in plasma increased (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that the camelina, flax, and sunflower seeds can be regarded as good dietary components with positive effects on the dietary value of poultry meat.

Effects of Bacillus cereus and coumarin on growth performance, blood biochemical parameters, and meat quality in broilers

“…The previous studies reported the effect of a diet supplemented with fatty seeds on the mineral composition of the pectoral muscles of broilers. For example, high concentrations of Fe found in the muscles could be associated with high levels of Fe in the blood [ 46 ]. The findings of our study are consistent with those of the previous studies, as the Fe content in the blood of the BC+CO group was high, as was the content in the muscles.…”

Camelina, an ancient oilseed crop actively contributing to the rural renaissance in Europe. A review

“…In addition to essential amino acids, proteins in camelina seeds are rich in non-essential amino acids as well, mostly glutamic and aspartic acids, arginine, proline, and serine (Bătrîna et al 2020;Zubr 2003). Apart from PUFAs and proteins, camelina seed is rich in anti-oxidants, such as phenolic acids and flavonoids, tocopherols, and xanthophyll (Table 3) Taranu et al 2014;Zubr and Matthäus 2002;Terpinc et al 2012;Zając et al 2020). Among tocopherols, gamma tocopherol accounts for approximately 90% of the total (Abramovič et al 2007).…”

“…Many of these anti-oxidants stabilize oils and protect unsaturated fatty acids from oxidation, thus significantly extending the shelf life of camelina oil. Furthermore, camelina seeds provide minerals, especially phosphorus, manganese, calcium, and iron (Table 3) (Zając et al 2020), as well as several vitamins, mostly vitamins B 3 (190-212 μg g −1 ), B 1 (18.6-19.8 μg g −1 ), and B 5 (11.0-11.4 μg g −1 ) ( Table 3).…”

“…Camelina oil and meal can be used as ingredients in livestock feed diets (Taranu et al 2014) due to their high protein content, specific amino acid profile, and interesting energetic value (Colombini et al 2014). The addition of camelina meal to the diets of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and broiler chickens (Gallus gallus) has no effect on their growth performance and proportions, but it can modulate their FA profile (Zając et al 2020). In fact, the meat produced was characterized by a lower content of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), lower monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and a higher content of ω-3 PUFAs with a consequently decreased ω-6 to ω-3 PUFA ratio (Orczewska-Dudek and Pietras 2019;Peiretti et al 2007).…”

Nutritive value of full-fat dehulled sunflower seeds in diets for broiler chickens

“…The de-hulling process removes the major fibre components and improves digestibility (Nadeem et al, 2010). Therefore, DHSS is low in fibre, and high in oil and protein in comparison with SFM (Zając et al, 2020).…”