Effects of dietary canistel (Pouteria campechiana) fruit meal on growth performance and carcass parameters of broiler chicken

Pouteria campechiana (Canistel) is an under-utilized tree fruit grown naturally in many tropical and sub-tropical regions. Objective of this study was to determine the effects of dietary Canistel fruit meal (CFM) on growth and carcass parameters of 3-6 week old broiler chicken. Ninety broiler chicks in 30 pens, were fed one of the five iso- proteomic broiler finisher diets containing either 0 (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20% of CFM from day 21 to 42. The dietary level of CFM had no significant (P>0.05) effects on final live weight on day 42, weight gain from day 21 -42, water intake, carcass weight and dressing percentage. However, feed conversion ratio (FCR) of the birds given control diet was significantly lower than that of the birds given diets with CFM. The weights of the visceral organs and the length of the small intestine in relation to empty carcass weight were not significantly different among treatments. The abdominal fat pad weight of the birds given 10%CFM was significantly lower than that of the birds given diet without CFM. It was concluded that the up to 20%CFM can be included in broiler finisher diets without any adverse effects on health, mortality, growth and carcass parameters.

Tropical Agricultural Research and Extension 16(2): 2013: page 34-39