Effects of different amounts of field peas (Pissum sativum L.) in the diets for turkeys on meat qualities

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the efficiency of soybean oil meal replacement with increasing amount of peas (from 10% to 40%) in the diets for turkeys on anatomic carcass dissection and chemical indicators of breast, shoulder, thigh and shin muscles, physical indicators of breast muscles and the content of tryptophan and oxyprolin. The anatomic dissection of carcasses indicated that male turkeys fed peas had from 0.28% to 0.61% (P > 0.05–P < 0.05) less shoulder muscles, whereas female turkeys of the same groups had from 0.09 to 0.31% (P > 0.05–P < 0.05) more abdominal fat compared with the turkeys the diets of which did not contain any peas. The chemical analysis of meat showed that feeding the diets with the increasing amount of peas resulted in 0.69–0.82% lower amount of fat in female shoulder muscle (P > 0.05–P < 0.05). Soybean oil meal replacement with field peas in broiler turkey diets had no significant influence on the other anatomic indicators of the carcass and the other physicochemical indicators of meat as well as the content of trypthophan and oxyprolin in the muscles. Our study indicated that soybean oil meal replacement with peas up to 20% from 0 to 4 weeks, 25% from 5 to 8 weeks, 30% from 9 to 12 weeks and 40% from 13 to 16 weeks, and with 100% soybean oil meal replacement at the final stage had no negative influence on the carcass qualities of broiler turkeys.