Effects of guavira fruit (<i>Campomanesia adamantium</i>) peel extract on performance and meat quality of broilers

Abstract

This article assessed the performance, carcass yield, and meat quality of finishing broilers fed increasing levels of hydroethanolic extract of guavira fruit peel (HEGP) were assessed. A total of 480, three-weeks-old male broilers were randomly allocated to dietary levels of HEGP (0, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 mg/kg), with five replicates and 16 birds each. There was a quadratic effect of HEGP inclusion on weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR), with the greatest WG and FCR being calculated at levels of 314 and 219 mg/kg HEGP, respectively. Broilers fed diets containing the extract had better performance than those fed an extract-free diet. There was no effect of extract inclusion on carcass yield and cuts. There was a quadratic effect of HEGP inclusion on a^* (redness) of thigh meat at 15 min post-mortem, and on water-holding capacity (WHC), with the lowest and highest values being calculated at 270 mg/kg and 263 mg/kg HEGP, respectively. There was a quadratic influence of HEGP inclusion on the malonaldehyde content at 30-day storage, with highest value being calculated at 218 mg/kg HEGP. Dietary inclusion of 219 mg/kg of HEGP resulted in better FCR for broilers in the finishing phase but without improvement in meat quality.