Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the chemical and energy composition of spirulina (Spirulina platensis), the nutrient metabolizability coefficients, and the values of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and the apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) in broilers. A digestibility trial was carried out by using total excreta collection method, with 90 Cobb 500 lineage chicks, with initial weight of 256 ± 5 g at 11 days of age. Birds were allotted in metabolic cages for 10 days, distributed in a completely randomized design, with three treatments and six repetitions with five birds each. Diets consisted on a reference-ration based on corn and soybean meal and two test diets, one containing spirulina (30%) and the other one with soybean meal (30%). Spiruline was superior to soybean meal for contents of dry matter (DM), gross energy (9.60%), crude protein (26.56%), ether extract (54.45%), mineral matter (42.77%), calcium (100%) and total phosphorus (130.77%) and also for most amino acids, except lysine, glutamate, histidine and proline. Nevertheless, spiruline presented lower values of gross fiber (83.95%), acid detergent fiber (85.12%) and neutral detergent fiber (6.15). The AME and AMEn values (kcal/kg of DM) were, respectively, 2,906 and 2,502 for the spirulina and 2,646 and 2,340 for the soybean meal and AMEn of spirulina was 6.92% higher than soybean meal.
Highlights
The Brazilian poultry industry has been in evidence in the international market because of the high productivity and quality of its products
The objective of this study was to determine the chemical and energy composition of spirulina (Spirulina platensis), the nutrient metabolizability coefficients, and the values of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and the apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) in broilers
The objective of this study was to determine the chemical and energy composition, the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and AME corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) of spirulina and to compare those variables to soybean meal as a possible replacement in diets for broilers
Summary
The Brazilian poultry industry has been in evidence in the international market because of the high productivity and quality of its products. To maintain this profile, it is important to develop nutritional strategies and to formulate adequate diets to birds, increasing the profitability of the producer. Among several microorganisms which have been studied, the blue-green alga spirulina is considered a promising microorganism due to its high protein content (65 to 70% DM) and great amount of vitamins and minerals (Contreras et al 1979; Kay, 1991). With the high reproduction rate of spiruline, it is estimated that some area available for their growth can produce 125 times more protein than the same area of corn (Furst, 1978)
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