Effects of dietary silicon derived from rice hull ash on the meat quality and bone breaking strength of broiler chickens

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary silicon derived from rice hull ash on the meat quality and bone breaking strength of broilers. Methodology: One hundred and sixty 10 days old Arbor Acres male broiler chicks were randomly divided into 4 dietary treatments, each with 4 replicates of 10 birds. Birds were fed the basal diet supplemented with silicon at 0 (control), 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00% until 42 days old. Results: No significant data on growth performance and carcass characteristics were observed among the dietary groups. However, the breast meat of broilers fed the dietary silicon presented a significantly lower (p<0.05) thawing loss compared with the control. In these dietary-silicon-fed birds, cooking loss for the breast sample tended to decrease and the 0.75% silicon group displayed a significantly lower value (p<0.05). The thigh meat showed the lowest thawing and cooking losses (p<0.05) in birds fed the dietary 0.75% silicon compared with other dietary groups. A significant difference in femur breaking strength was not found among treatments, but the strongest femur appeared in birds receiving the dietary 0.75% silicon. In addition, the tibia breaking strength of broilers fed the dietary 0.75% silicon resulted in the highest (p<0.05) value compared with other groups. This evidence implies that dietary silicon is associated positively with bone health. Conclusion: The current results suggest that dietary silicon can be used as a mineral additive to improve the meat and bone quality in broilers, particularly silicon at a level of 0.75% in broiler diets.