Effect of graded levels of raw roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seed meal on performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality traits of broiler chicken

Abstract

Means of reducing the rising cost of feed resources in livestock production is a concern in thepoultry industry in Nigeria.The study was carried out to investigate the effect of graded levelof roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) seed meal on performance traits, physical and sensoryquality of broiler chicken meat. One hundred and twenty birds at day 28 were used and thirtybirds were randomly allotted into respective four dietary treatments [T1 - control diet with0% inclusion level of raw roselle seed meal (RSM) while T2, T3 and T4 had 25%, 50% and75% inclusion level of RSM respectively] in a complete randomized design. Each treatmenthad three replicates with ten birds per replicate. At the end of the 28-day feeding trial being 8weeks, 24 birds (2-birds/replicate) were slaughtered for physical and sensory meat qualitycharacteristics: colour, appearance, flavor, texture, taste and overall acceptability. Resultshowed there was not significant (P>0.05) difference for final weight, weight gain and feedintake among T1, T2 and T3 but T4 had significant (P<0.05) least values in final weight(1.58kg) weight gain (1.05kg) and feed intake (3.52kg) among the treatments. The FCR wasnot significantly different for T1 (3.32) and T4 (3.36) while both T1 and T4 differedsignificantly from T2 (3.13) and T3 (3.11). There were not significant (p>0.05) differences inthe carcass traits that were measured across the treatments. The cooking loss from the thighmeat in T2 (27.55%) was significantly lower in comparison to treatments T3 (36.60%) andT4 (35.62%) but was not significantly different from T1 (30.48%). The cooking loss frombreast and drumstick meat showed insignificant (P<0.05) difference among the treatments.The texture of the meat had least scored value in T1 (4.93) which was significantly differentfrom T1 (6.33) but not significantly different from T2 (5.13) and T4 (6.07). The overallacceptability of the meat from the treatments was highest in T1 (7.03) with no significantlydifferent from T3 (6.33) and T4 (6.67) but was significantly different from T2 (5.6). It can beconcluded that raw roselle seed meal can be used as a substitute for full fat soybean for use infinisher broiler diets up to 50% inclusion level without adverse effect on the performancetraits and some meat quality attributes of chicken. Keywords: Broilers' performance, meat quality traits and roselle seed meal. &nbsp