Effects of feeding cassava pulp fermented with Acremonium charticola on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and meat quality of broiler chicks

Cassava pulp is an energy-rich by-product of the tapioca industry, and is known as a good media for growing filamentous fungi. It may therefore be not only an alternative to maize in poultry diets, but also a carrier for beneficial fungi. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of the fungus Acremonium charticola (grown in A. charticola-fermented cassava pulp) (AC-FCP), with or without antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs), on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and meat quality of broiler chicks. A total of 192 broiler chicks were assigned to one of four dietary treatments, including a control diet (maize-soybean-meal-based diet), control diet + AGPs (neomycin) (0.0003% of diet), AC-FCP diet (containing 16% of AC-FCP), and AC-FCP + AGPs. There was a tendency towards lower feed costs per kilogram live bodyweight (BW) gain in AC-FCP and AC-FCP + AGPs than in the control and control + AGPs birds. The birds fed the AC-FCP diet had greater spleen relative weight than the control and AC-FCP + AGPs birds. The birds fed diets containing AC-FCP and AC-FCP + AGPs had heavier ileum and caecum, and tended to have smaller livers than the control and control + AGPs birds. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) percentage inhibition values were lowest and highest in the AC-FCP and control birds, respectively. The breast meat of the control birds had lower crude protein content than that of other experimental groups. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of AC-FCP reduced the feed cost per kilogram live weight gain of broiler chicks. The fungus A. charticola (grown in AC-FCP) seems to play an important role in increasing the relative weight of spleen, ileum and caecum, alleviating oxidative stress, and increasing the protein content of breast muscle of broiler chicks. Keywords : Acremonium charticola-fermented cassava pulp, broilers, digestibility, growth, meat characteristics, oxidative stress