Effect of Vachellia karroo leaf meal inclusion levels on growth, meat pH, shear force, cooking loss and shelf life of Ross 308 broiler chickens

Abstract

This study determined the effect of Vachellia karroo leaf meal (VKLM) in diets on feed intake (FI), digestibility, feed conversion ratio (FCR), body weight gain (BWG), final live weight (FLW) and meat quality parameters of male Ross 308 broiler chickens fed from 22 to 42 days. One hundred sixty 22-day-old male chickens were assigned to four treatments with four replicates of 10 chickens. VKLM inclusion levels were at 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 g/kg dry matter (DM). The total FI and BWG were recorded and used to calculate FCR. Meat pH, shear force and cooking loss of chicken breast meat samples were measured for stability over refrigerated storage periods of 0, 7 and 14 days at −4°C. Data were analysed using general linear model procedures (SAS, 2013) as Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with Initial Body Weight (IBW) as a covariate. VKLM inclusion levels in the diets did not affect (P > 0.05) FI, FCR and nutrient digestibility of male broilers. Breast meat pH, shear force and cooking loss were similar (P > 0.05) after slaughter (day 0). However, after 7 days, meat from chickens on VKLM treatment diets had lower pH than a diet without VKLM (control). Meat samples from broilers fed 1.5 g VKLM had higher (P < 0.05) shear force and lower (P < 0.05) cooking loss than control. After 14 days, VKLM inclusion had no effect (P > 0.05) on shear force. It was concluded that VKLM could be included in broiler diets at up to 1.5 g/kg DM to improve meat quality and shelf life without any adverse effects on performance and productivity.