Value of Aspergillus niger fermentation product as a dietary ingredient for broiler chickens

The experiment reported was a study on Aspergillus niger inoculation into t he waste liquor from glutamate manufacturing and used as a dietary protein source for broilers. The program involved a toxicological and nutritional e valuation of the product using a short-term toxicity and a nutritional feed ing trial in broilers. Both trials involved a total of 800 broilers from th e commercial Arbor Acres strain. Equal numbers of males and females were ra ndomly allocated into 20 pens with five dietary treatments and four replica tes for the 6-week feeding trials. The dietary treatment involved graded le vels of SCP inclusion, 0, 47, 95, 142, 189 g/kg and 0, 35.5, 71, 106.5, 142 g/kg, in starter and finisher maize-soya bean meal basal rations, respecti vely. Blood and specimens from various visceral organs were taken at the en d of the toxicological trial for analysis of blood constituents and for cli nical and pathological examination. Data on the performance and nutrient ut ilization efficiency were recorded during the feeding trial. Carcass analys is and a taste panel were also conducted to evaluate consumer acceptance at the end of the trial. Results showed that the intestinal weights of certai n intestinal segments increased (P < 0.05), and the red blood cell (RBC), h emoglobin (Hb), hematocrit and blood enzyme activity, aspartate amino trans ferase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT), significantly decreased a s the dietary level of SCP increased (P < 0.05). Pathological results did n ot show any abnormality due to the SCP inclusion. Increasing amounts of SCP inclusion in the broiler diet linearly depressed weight gain and feed conv ersion in the 0-6 week broilers (P < 0.05). Each 10 g increment of SCP in k ilogram diet decreased the live-weight gain of the broilers by 6.3 g and re quired an increase of 0.14 g feed to convert to 100 g of gain. Increased le vels of SCP inclusion, however, showed a trend toward depressed feed intake during the finishing period (P = 0.053) and the entire feeding period (P = 0.053). inclusion of SCP did not significantly influence the color, aroma and tenderness of breast meat, but significantly influenced breast meat fla vor (P < 0.05). The flavor of the breast meat linearly increased as the con centration of dietary SCP increased (Y = 2.88 + 0.0137X) (S-yx = 0.88; P < 0.05). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.