Carcass characteristics of broilers fed enzyme complex

Abstract

Enzyme supplementation in diets based on corn and soybean meal can improve the productive performance of broilers. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of different levels of an enzyme complex consisting of phytase, protease, xylanase, β-glucanase, cellulase, amylase, and pectinase, for diets based on corn and soybean meal, on the parameters of carcass yield and meat quality of broilers. Six hundred broiler chicks were used, and the animals were females with one day of age, from the Cobb 500 strain, and distributed in a completely randomized design, with five levels of inclusion of the enzyme complex (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400), and six repetitions, with twenty animals each. The carcass yield and meat quality were evaluated at 35 and 42 days of age. We evaluated the characteristics of weight loss by cooking (WLC), shear force (SF), water holding capacity (WHC), pH, lightness (L*) and color (a* and b*). The parameters of performance, carcass yield and carcass parts, and meat quality were not affected by the enzyme supplementation of diets fed to broiler chickens (P >0.05), except for the performance characteristics of the breast and the wings at 42 days of age (P < 0.05).

Keywords

• poultry
• enzymes
• meat quality
• carcass yield