Fatty acid profile, nutrient composition, characteristics, and sensory traits of broiler chicken meat fed a diet containing heat-treated hemp seed cake and phytase

Abstract

Research on sustainable alternative feed ingredients is important to reduce the significant depend-ence on expensive soybean meal. In this study, the effects of heat-treated hemp seed cake (HSC) and phytase supplementation on the nutritional composition, fatty acid profile, physicochemical properties, and sensory traits of broiler chicken meat were evaluated. A total of 210 unsexed Ross day-old chicks were randomly allocated to seven dietary treatments with six replicates each: soybean meal-based diet (control), 15% HSC with or without phytase (1000 FTU/kg), autoclaved HSC (120°C, 10 min) with or without phytase and oven-heated HSC (120°C, 20 min) with or without phytase. Meat dry matter, crude protein, crude fat and ash contents were not affected by dietary treatments. Thigh meat pH was lower (P<0.05) for autoclaved HSC, and lower (P<0.05) for phytase-supplemented unheated HSC diet compared to the control. HSC supplementation enhanced breast meat redness and yellowness and in-creased thigh meat lightness and yellowness (P<0.05) without affecting breast meat lightness. The in-clusion of HSC decreased total saturated fatty acids, increased polyunsaturated fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6 contents and resulted in a lower omega-6/omega-3 ratio (P<0.05). Unheated HSC nega-tively impacted breast meat appearance, odor and chewiness (P<0.05) while heat-treated HSC did not impair meat sensory quality compared to control diet. In conclusion, feeding 15% of HSC with or with-out phytase could partially replace soybean meal without negative impacts on meat quality and im-prove the fatty acid profile of broiler meat.