Nutritional composition, metabolizability coefficients and use of passion fruit pulp waste in the diet of meat quail

Abstract

Two experiments were undertaken to evaluate the chemical composition and metabolizability coefficient of passion fruit pulp waste and its effect on the production performance of meat quail when included in their diet at different levels. In experiment I, a metabolism trial was conducted as a completely randomized design (CRD) involving 90 meat quail that received one of two treatments (control diet and test diet), with five replicates and nine birds per plot. To determine the metabolizability coefficients, the total collection method was performed from 18 to 21 days of age. In experiment II, 225 European quail were allotted to one of five treatments (0, 3, 6, 9 and 12% inclusion of passion fruit pulp waste) in a CRD with five replicates and nine birds per experimental unit. No significant differences were observed (p > 0.05) for weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion or carcass yield between the different waste inclusion levels. The nutritional composition of the waste was 2,925.75 kcal AME/kg, 2,922.09 kcal AMEn/kg, 20.86% ether extract and 10.72% crude protein. Passion fruit pulp waste can be included up to 12% in the diet of meat quail from one to 42 days of age without affecting their production performance or carcass characteristics, and its use is economically viable.