Desempenho e características da carne de codornas de corte alimentadas com farinha de barata de Madagascar (Aromphadorhina portentosa)

Abstract

Considering world population growth estimates, in order to avoid a future scenario of competition for resources widely used for animal and human food, it is necessary to study alternative food sources that can be produced on a large scale in a sustainable way. Thus, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of including different percentages of Madagascar cockroach flour (FBM) in the diet of one-day-old beef quail on performance characteristics, quality and meat composition. The birds were fed diets containing 0, 6, 12 and 18% FBM implemented with conventional feeding. Two articles were developed from this experiment. The first evaluated the performance of birds by analyzing the parameters weight (g), weight gain (g), feed intake (g/bird) and feed conversion (g of diet/g of weight). The carcass yield was also analyzed, calculated from the relationship between the weight of the eviscerated carcass and the weight of the animal at slaughter. The evaluation of the effect of inclusion of FBM in the diet of the quails was carried out by analysis of variance. It was found that the initial performance of birds fed with insect meal was superior compared to those fed with the traditional diet, and the highest level of FBM inclusion (18%) is better for performance up to 28 days of age. This benefit, however, diminished in the final stage of creation. At 35 days there was no effect of FBM addition. The similar carcass yield of the quails reared on the different diets allowed us to conclude that the commercialization of meat from these animals would not be harmed by the inclusion of insect meal in the diet. The second study evaluated the quality and composition characteristics of poultry meat. For quality analysis, pH, water retention capacity, colorimetry, cooking weight loss and shear force were evaluated. In relation to the composition, the moisture content, proteins, lipids and ash were analyzed. Effects of the inclusion of Madagascar cockroach flour in the quail's diet were observed only for the characteristics of color and protein content. The 14% level of flour inclusion resulted in a higher percentage of protein in the breast meat. It was concluded that FBM can be used to partially replace the classic sources of food for birds without prejudice to the quality and composition characteristics of quail meat.