Abstract
The study examined the effects of two methods of processing de-hulled sunflower seed meal (SFM) from the same batch of sunflower seeds. Sunflower seed meal was fed to broilers as meal (MSFM) or after it had been pelleted (PSFM) at 75 °C and 360 kPa pressure to pass through a 3 mm mesh. Three diets were prepared, namely a balancer feed (BF) and two diets containing 200 g/kg MSFM or 200 g/kg PSFM. They were fed to 30 pens (two birds each) with male Ross 308 broilers, from 8 to 21 days old, following randomization. Data were analysed by ANOVA. Two pre-planned orthogonal contrast tests were performed to compare overall differences between the diets containing SFM and BF and between diets containing the MSFM and PSFM. The BF had a very different nutrient composition from the complete feeds containing SFM so, as expected, there were differences in growth performance and nutrient retention. The diet containing PSFM had greater apparent metabolizable energy corrected for N retention (AMEn) and dry matter retention (DMR) than that containing MSFM. The use of the substitution method showed the PSFM had AMEn that was 18% greater than the MSFM (8.79 vs 7.47 MJ/kg DM). Under the conditions of the current study, incorporating PSFM in a mash broiler feed increased dietary AMEn compared with the same feed containing MSFM. Further studies are needed to identify whether the benefits of pre-pelleting SFM remain after this product has been incorporated in complete pelleted broiler feeds.
Highlights
In many countries, the poultry industry relies heavily on imported soybean meal (SBM) as a protein source in feed
Pelleting involves an increase in temperature and pressure, which may further break down the cell structure of the sunflower seed meal to digestive enzymes and release more energy and nutrients to the chickens (Abdollahi et al, 2013; Pirgozliev et al, 2016)
To reduce bulk when transported, the sunflower meal (SFM) is further pelleted without preconditioning at 75 °C and 360 kPa to pass through a 3 mm mesh
Summary
G/kg Crude protein, g/kg Crude fat, g/kg Total non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), g/kg Soluble NSP, g/kg Insoluble NSP, g/kg Acid insoluble ash, g/kg Calculated metabolizable energy, MJ/kg. Data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) in GenStat® (19th edition, VSN International, Rothamstead, Hertfordshire, UK). Two pre-planned orthogonal contrast tests were performed to compare overall differences between the diets. Differences were reported as significant at P
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