Nutritional evaluation and palatability of pet biscuits for dogs

Abstract

The study's aim was to evaluate the microbiological, nutritional, textural quality and palatability of pet biscuits made with the inclusion of three flours. The treatments were chicken viscera flour (CVF), commercial Nile tilapia flour (FF) and mixed fish flours of several species (FVF). For the FVF, only the carcasses (backbones) of Nile tilapia, salmon, tuna and sardines were used, and they were washed, whereas FVF as well as the others were cooked for 60 minutes, then pressed, ground and dehydrated for 24 hours at 60° C. After this period, they were crushed and ground for inclusion in the biscuits. The CVF, FF and FVF flours showed 43.82%, 50.48% and 56.70% of crude protein, respectively. CVF had the highest lipid content (10.01%) and FVF had the highest ash content (23.94%) and FVF had the highest caloric value (338.63 kcal 100 g-1). The inclusion of flours in biscuits did not influence the protein and carbohydrate contents, whose average values were 18.48% and 50.23%. However, they influenced the moisture content, lipids, ash and caloric value. Biscuits with the inclusion of viscera (CVF) had the highest lipid content (5.91%) and those with fish had the highest ash content (5.66% and 5.81%) for FF and FVF. Biscuits with FVF had a lower caloric value (318.47 kcal 100 g-1). The microbiological analysis indicated that the biscuits were considered of good quality to feed dogs. Regarding texture and palatability, there was no significant difference between treatments. The inclusion of fish flour, both FF and FVF, is a viable alternative.

Squid meal and shrimp hydrolysate as novel protein sources for dog food

“…This result was unexpected as both squid meal and shrimp hydrolysate presented high levels of glutamic and aspartic acids, two amino acids found in various foods, including seafood, known to induce umami, a taste highly attractive to dogs ( 93 , 94 ). Indeed, earlier studies found no negative or even positive effects on palatability with higher inclusion levels of marine by-products than the level used in the current study ( 12 , 95 ). The lower palatability of diets with 15% inclusion of squid meal or shrimp hydrolysate might be due to protein sources being mixed with the basal diet immediately before being offered to dogs, instead of included in the kibble, as previously shown with microalgae supplementation ( 11 ).…”