Hemp seed (Cannabis sativa L.) cake as sustainable dietary additive in slow-growing broilers: effects on performance, meat quality, oxidative stability and gut health

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of experimental diets fed to slow-growing broiler chickens.

Item^1	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10
Ingredients (g/kg)
Corn	565.0	585.0	600.0
Soybean meal (48% CP)	175.0	170.0	165.0
Sunflower meal (38% CP)	75.0	35.0	–
Wheat	75.0	120.0	95.0
Wheat middlings	60.0	–	–
Dicalcium phosphate	20.0	20.0	20.0
Soybean oil	10.0	–	–
Hemp seed cake	–	50.0	100.0
Calcium carbonate	10.0	10.0	10.0
L-Lysine HCl	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sodium chloride	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sodium bicarbonate	2.0	2.0	2.0
Vitamin-mineral premix^2	2.0	2.0	2.0
L-Threonine	1.0	1.0	1.0
DL-Methionine	1.0	1.0	1.0
Chemical composition, % DM
Crude protein	19.90	19.86	19.65
Crude fat	4.90	4.15	4.47
Ash	6.50	6.30	6.28
Calculated analysis
ME (MJ/kg)^3	13.80	13.85	13.90
Calcium	1.13	1.13	1.14
Available phosphorus	0.49	0.48	0.49
Lysine	1.09	1.09	1.10
Methionine	0.45	0.47	0.48
Methionine + Cysteine	0.83	0.84	0.86
Threonine	0.83	0.84	0.85

¹HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. ²Supplied per kilogram of diet: vitamin A 12,000 IU; vitamin E, 10 mg; vitamin D 2,200 IU; niacin 35.0 mg; d-pantothenic acid 12 mg; riboflavin 3.63 mg; pyridoxine 3.5 mg; thiamine 2.4 mg; folic acid 1.4 mg; biotin 0.15 mg; vitamin B 0.03 mg; Mn 60 mg; Zn 40 mg; Fe 1,280 mg; Cu 8 mg; I 0.3 mg; Se 0.2 mg. ³Metabolizable energy.

Table 2. Proximate chemical and fatty acids composition of hemp seed cake (HSC) included into broiler diets.

Item
Dry matter, %	91.8
Crude protein, %	31.3
Crude lipids, %	8.42
Ash, %	5.36
Carbohydrates, %	15.2
Crude fiber, %	31.5
Metabolizable energy, MJ/kg DM^1	12.0
Fatty acids, %
C16:0 (palmitic)	8.6
C18:0 (stearic)	2.8
C18:1 n-9 cis (oleic)	13.1
C18:2 n-6 (linoleic)	53.2
C18:3 n-3 (α-linolenic)	12.3
C18:3 n-6 (γ-linolenic)	2.5
Other	7.5

¹ Estimated according to Van Der Klis and Fledderus (2007).

Table 3. Effect of dietary treatments on growth performance of slow-growing broiler chickens.

Item	Diet^1
	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10	SEM	p value
Final BW,^2 g	2,119	2,148	2,155	38.4	0.197
ADG, g/d	53.1	53.3	53.5	0.75	0.212
ADFI, g/d	126.0	125.2	124.8	2.04	0.063
FCR, g/g	2.37	2.35	2.33	0.04	0.167
Mortality, %	1.31	1.29	1.33	0.221	0.598

¹HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. ²BW = final body weight at 49 days of age; ADG = average daily gain (14–49 d); ADFI = average daily feed intake (14–49 d); FCR = feed conversion ratio (14–49 d). SEM = standard error of the means.

Table 4. Effect of dietary treatments on carcass traits and breast muscle quality of slow-growing broiler chickens.

	Diet^1
Item	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10	SEM	p value
Carcass traits^2
Eviscerated carcass	73.5	73.8	74.0	0.40	0.071
Breast	20.4	20.5	20.7	0.23	0.095
Abdominal fat	1.8	1.9	2.1	0.04	0.055
Proximate composition
Moisture, %	72.7	72.4	72.9	0.31	0.444
Protein, %	24.3	24.7	24.2	0.39	0.209
Fat, %	2.12	2.09	2.05	0.06	0.115
Ash, %	0.88	0.81	0.85	0.05	0.099
pH24	5.70	5.77	5.79	0.101	0.088
Color at 24 h
L*	47.47	48.25	48.61	0.53	0.101
a*	3.35	3.54	3.63	0.17	0.072
b*	11.86	11.41	11.53	0.29	0.065

¹HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. ²Percentages of body weight at slaughter. SEM = standard error of the means.

Table 5. Fatty acid composition (% total FA methyl esters) of thigh muscle.

Item	Diet^1			SEM	p value
	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10
Total Fatty acids (g/100 g muscle)
C4:0	0.04	0.05	0.05	0.005	0.224
C14:0 (myristic)	0.41	0.35	0.32	0.037	0.119
C15:0	0.08	0.06	0.05	0.011	0.128
C16:0 (palmitic)	21.43	21.04	20.05	0.580	0.152
C17:0	0.31	0.16	0.16	0.072	0.050
C18:0 (stearic)	9.96	12.04	13.81	1.575	0.069
C20:0	0.10	0.10	0.11	0.007	0.189
C21:0	0.24	0.26	0.25	0.009	0.113
C22:0	0.29	0.25	0.24	0.021	0.203
C23:0	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.006	0.132
∑ SFA	32.88	34.34	35.07	0.915	0.062
C14:1	0.05	0.04	0.03	0.005	0.177
C16:1 trans	0.27	0.27	0.29	0.009	0.095
C16:1 cis	2.51	2.01	2.03	0.231	0.055
C17:1	0.06	0.04	0.03	0.010	0.066
C18:1 n9 trans (elaidic)	0.00	0.00	0.07	0.031	0.056
C18:1 n9 cis (oleic)	34.91	32.42	31.88	1.322	0.051
C20:1 n-9	0.06	0.07	0.08	0.009	0.140
C22:1 n-9	2.96^b	4.62^a	4.67^a	0.792	0.048
C24:1 n-9	0.11	0.12	0.11	0.004	0.111
∑ MUFA	40.94	39.59	39.19	0.747	0.069
C18:2 n6 (linoleic)	23.13	22.27	22.36	0.387	0.118
C18:3 n-6	0.94	1.06	0.94	0.056	0.135
C18:3 n3 (α-linolenic)	0.30	0.25	0.29	0.020	0.099
C20:2 n-6	0.03	0.03	0.04	0.007	0.117
C20:3 n-6	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.007	0.120
C20:5 n-3 (EPA)	0.71	1.08	0.99	0.156	0.051
C22:5 n-3 (DPA)	0.74	0.63	0.57	0.073	0.152
C22:6 n-3 (DHA)	0.30^c	0.72^a	0.51^b	0.169	0.049
∑ PUFA	26.19	26.07	25.74	0.193	0.119
∑ UFA	67.13	65.66	64.93	0.915	0.112
n-6	24.13^a	23.39^b	23.38^b	0.350	0.011
n-3	2.06^b	2.68^a	2.35^a	0.253	0.048
n-6/n-3	11.71^a	8.73^b	9.94^b	1.224	0.045
AI	0.36	0.35	0.34	0.008	0.123
TI	0.85	0.87	0.92	0.028	0.145

¹HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. SFA, saturated fatty acids (sum of C4:0 + C14:0 + C15:0 + C16:0 + C17:0 + C18:0 + C20:0 + C21:0 + C22:0 + C23:0); MUFA, Monounsaturated fatty acids (sum of C14:1 + C16:1 + C17:1 + C18:1 + C20:1 + C22:1 + C24:1); Total n-6 (sum of C18:2 + C18:3 + C20:2 + C20:3); Total n-3 (sum of C18:3 + C20:5 + C22:5 + C22:6); PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids (sum of n-6 +n-3).^a-cMeans within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.05).

Table 6. Fatty acid composition (% total FA methyl esters) of breast muscle.

Item	Diet^1			SEM	p value
	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10
Total Fatty acids (g/100 g muscle)
C4:0	0.06	0.13	0.10	0.029	0.123
C14:0 (myristic)	0.35	0.21	0.23	0.062	0.102
C15:0	0.06	0.04	0.06	0.009	0.105
C16:0 (palmitic)	24.04	22.25	22.39	0.815	0.092
C17:0	0.14	0.11	0.14	0.014	0.151
C18:0 (stearic)	10.05	12.53	12.15	1.091	0.054
C20:0	0.06	0.04	0.08	0.016	0.125
C21:0	0.24	0.26	0.25	0.009	0.105
C22:0	0.28	0.60	0.47	0.131	0.125
C23:0	0.04	0.09	0.08	0.016	0.121
∑ SFA	35.31	36.24	35.94	0.385	0.059
C14:1	0.04	0.02	0.02	0.009	0.121
C16:1 trans	0.56	0.59	0.71	0.063	0.105
C16:1 cis	1.80^a	0.93^b	1.03^b	0.389	0.049
C17:1	0.04	0.03	0.02	0.010	0.099
C18:1 n-9 trans (elaidic)	0.16	0.28	0.30	0.062	0.051
C18:1 n-9 cis (oleic)	33.91^a	24.28^b	26.67^b	4.097	0.042
C20:1 n-9	0.05	0.05	0.07	0.007	0.122
C22:1 n-9	5.82^c	14.28^a	11.18^b	3.494	0.042
C24:1 n-9	0.24	0.38	0.32	0.056	0.099
∑ MUFA	42.62	40.83	40.30	0.994	0.062
C18:2 n-6 (linoleic)	18.26^a	15.14^b	15.58^b	1.378	0.049
C18:3 n-6	0.68	0.40	0.51	0.116	0.106
C18:3 n3 (α-linolenic)	0.22	0.20	0.20	0.009	0.104
C20:2 n-6	0.03	0.06	0.06	0.013	0.120
C20:3 n-6	0.10^b	0.37^a	0.32^a	0.116	0.047
C20:5 n-3 (EPA)	1.13^c	2.03^a	1.58^b	0.366	0.048
C22:5 n-3 (DPA)	0.87^c	2.35^a	1.83^b	0.616	0.035
C22:6 n-3 (DHA)	0.75^b	2.39^a	2.18^a	0.728	0.029
∑ PUFA	22.04	22.94	22.26	0.384	0.121
∑ UFA	64.66	63.77	62.56	0.861	0.112
n-6	19.07^a	15.97^b	16.47^b	1.360	0.049
n-3	2.97^B	6.97^A	5.79^A	1.679	0.009
n-6/n-3	6.43^A	2.29^B	2.85^B	1.834	0.008
AI	0.41	0.37	0.38	0.16	0.119
TI	0.89	0.71	0.77	0.073	0.124

¹HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. SFA, saturated fatty acids (sum of C4:0 + C14:0 + C15:0 + C16:0 + C17:0 + C18:0 + C20:0 + C21:0 + C22:0 + C23:0); MUFA, Monounsaturated fatty acids (sum of C14:1 + C16:1 + C17:1 + C18:1 + C20:1 + C22:1 + C24:1); Total n-6 (sum of C18:2 + C18:3 + C20:2 + C20:3); Total n-3 (sum of C18:3 + C20:5 + C22:5 + C22:6); PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids (sum of n-6 +n-3).^a-c Means within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.05). ^A,B Means within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.01).

Table 7. Effect of dietary treatment on breast meat oxidation products of slow-growing broiler chickens¹.

Item	Diet^2
	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10	SEM	p value
TBARS, mg MDA/kg of meat	0.53^b	0.48^a	0.47^a	0.026	0.048
Lipid hydroperoxides, μmol/g of meat	0.47^B	0.32^A	0.30^A	0.022	0.004
Protein carbonyls, nmol DNPH/mg protein	1.30	1.27	1.25	0.08	0.061

¹ Each value represents the mean of 12 birds per treatment.

² HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. TBARS: Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; MDA, malonaldehyde; DNPH, 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine. SEM = standard error of the means. ^a,b Means within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.05). ^A,B Means within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.01).

Figure 1. Cross section of small intestine of broiler chickens fed hemp seed cake (at 10% of diet). (A) Section of duodenum showing mucosa with several long villi and deep crypts (Azan Mallory, 10×). (B) Magnification of some villi with normal columnar epithelium (H&E, 250×).

Table 8. Effect of dietary treatments on duodenal mucosa morphometry of slow-growing broiler chickens¹.

Item	Diet^2
	HSC0	HSC5	HSC10	Pooled SEM	p value
Villus height, µm	1,017^B	1,513^A	1,531^A	50.1	0.001
Crypt depth, µm	179^b	148^a	145^a	11.2	0.017
Villus height/crypt depth	5.68^B	10.22^AB	10.56^A	0.69	<0.001
Villus surface area, mm^2	0.129^C	0.245^B	0.267^A	0.08	<0.001

¹ Each value represents the mean of 12 birds per treatment. ²HSC0 = control diet without hemp seed cake; HSC5 = diet containing 5% of hemp seed cake; HSC10 = diet containing 10% of hemp seed cake. ^a,bMeans within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.05). ^A–CMeans within a row with no common superscript differ significantly (p < 0.01). SEM = standard error of the means.

Van Der Klis JD, Fledderus J. 2007. Evaluation of raw materials for poultry: what’s up? Proceedings of the 16th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition. Strasbourg, France: World Poultry Science Association.

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Data availability statement

Data are contained within the article.