Calcium anacardate in the diet of broiler chickens: Performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of adding calcium anacardate as a source of anacardic acid in the diet of broiler chickens on performance, carcass characteristics, meat quality and lipid stability of the meat. A total of 840 one-day-old male chicks with initial body weights of 47.99 ± 0.81 g, were distributed in a completely randomised design with six treatments and seven replications of 20 birds each. The treatments applied were: diet with no growth promoter; diet with growth promoter; and four diets with no growth promoter but with the addition of calcium anacardate at levels of 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1%. As a result of this study the feed intake was not significantly affected by the treatments in any of the studied periods. The addition of calcium anacardate from 1 to 21 days of age starting at 0.75% reduced weight gain and worsened feed conversion, however, these variables were not significantly affected when the total period, from 1 to 42 days of age, was evaluated. There was also no significant effect of the treatments on the yields of carcass, breast, drumstick + thigh and abdominal fat, as well as on the proportions of dry matter, crude protein and mineral matter in the carcass, nor on color, cooking weight loss, water-holding capacity and meat pH. However, the proportion of fat in the carcass and lipid oxidation linearly decreased as the levels of calcium anacardate increased in the diet. In conclusion, the addition of calcium anacardate starting at 0.75% can reduce the proportion of fat in the carcass and improve the lipid stability of the meat, without impairing performance at 42 days of age.