Effects of corn replacement by sorghum in broiler chickens diets on performance, blood chemistry, and meat quality

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and nutrient composition of experimental diets (as-fed basis).

Diets	Starter-grower (1–24 days)			Finisher (25–42 days)
	Sorghum levels as a substitute for corn (%)
	S0	S50	S100	S0	S50	S100
Ingredients, %
Corn	57.98	30.50	0.00	64.09	33.40	0.00
Sorghum	0.00	30.50	61.00	0.00	33.40	69.75
Soybean meal, 45.6% CP	31.00	28.56	28.56	25.20	22.34	19.40
Corn gluten meal, 62% CP	4.00	4.00	4.00	3.50	3.50	3.50
Soy oil	2.00	1.30	1.30	2.60	2.70	2.60
Monocalcium phosphate	1.67	1.65	1.65	1.45	1.37	1.37
Calcium carbonate	1.45	1.49	1.49	1.27	1.32	1.30
Salt	0.28	0.28	0.28	0.28	0.28	0.28
L-lysine, 78%	0.29	0.35	0.35	0.28	0.33	0.41
Dl-methionine, 99%	0.25	0.29	0.29	0.25	0.28	0.31
Choline chloride	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08	0.08
Premix^a	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Calculated composition, %
ME, MJ/kg	12.70	12.70	12.68	13.33	13.33	13.34
Crude protein (CP)	22.0	22.0	22.0	19.5	19.5	19.5
Lysine, total	1.33	1.33	1.33	1.16	1.16	1.16
Lysine, digestible	1.20	1.25	1.25	1.05	1.07	1.07
TSAA	0.99	0.99	0.99	0.91	0.91	0.91
TSAA, digestible	0.90	0.90	0.91	0.83	0.84	0.85
Calcium	0.90	0.91	0.91	0.79	0.79	0.79
Av. phosphorous	0.45	0.45	0.45	0.40	0.40	0.40
Crude fat	4.92	4.52	4.51	5.63	5.72	5.80
Crude fibre	2.80	2.88	3.03	2.61	2.70	2.79
Analysed composition, %
Dry matter	89.77	89.93	90.04	89.82	89.98	90.03
Crude protein	22.09	21.94	22.05	19.52	19.50	19.51
Crude fat	4.94	4.68	4.62	5.72	5.80	5.92
Crude fibre	2.95	3.03	3.15	2.67	2.79	3.11

ME: metabolisable energy; TSAA: total sulphur amino acids. ^aSupplied per kg diet: 12,000 IU vitamin A, 5000 IU vitamin D3, 75 mg vitamin E, 3 mg vitamin K_3, 3 mg vitamin B₁, 8 mg vitamin B₂, 5 mg vitamin B₆, 0.016 mg vitamin B₁₂, 13 mg pantothenic acid, 55 mg nicotinic acid, 2 mg folic acid, 0.2 mg biotin, 120 mg Mn, 100 mg Zn, 40 mg Fe, 16 mg Cu, 1.25 mg I and 0.3 mg Se, 70 mg Monteban G100, 0.2 g Axtra PHY 5000 L (1000 FTU).

Table 2. Chemical composition of ES Shamal hybrid of sorghum.

Item	Nutrient content (g/kg DM)
Dry matter	898.7 ± 1.1
Crude protein	125.6 ± 3.9
Crude fat	38.7 ± 0.7
Ash	17.8 ± 1.1
Crude fibre	28.4 ± 2.6
NFE	789.5 ± 0.4
ME, MJ	14.7 ± 0.7
Fibre fractions
NDF	163.9 ± 0.7
ADF	55.1 ± 0.5
ADL	11.6 ± 0.2
CEL = ADF - ADL	43.5 ± 0.2
HCEL = NDF - ADF	127.3 ± 0.3
Calcium	0.7 ± 0.1
Phosphorus	3.9 ± 0.8

NFE: nitrogen-free extract; ME: metabolisable energy; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre; ADL: acid detergent lignin; CEL: cellulose; HCEL: hemicellulose.

Table 3. Effects of dietary treatments on performance variables (mean values^a) of broiler chickens^b.

Parameters	Dietary treatment			SEM^c	p-value
	S0	S50	S100
BWG, g
1–24 d	1059	1048	1061	17.805	0.711
25–42 d	1617	1654	1622	41.089	0.951
1–42 d	2676	2702	2680	36.916	0.945
Feed intake, g
1–24 d	1539	1525	1545	7.838	0.797
25–42 d	3044	3070	3055	21.585	0.534
1–42 d	4583	4594	4591	24.363	0.793
FCR, g/g
1–24 d	1.45	1.46	1.46	0.007	0.998
25–42 d	1.88	1.86	1.88	0.019	0.577
1–42 d	1.71	1.70	1.71	0.008	0.787
Litter quality^d
24 d	7.6	7.5	7.5	0.062	0.645
42 d	7.8	7.6	7.5	0.061	0.503
EPEF^e (1–42 d)	371.76	378.15	373.16	9.245	0.829

BWG: bodyweight gain; FCR: feed conversion ratio. ^aData are means of 6 replicate pens with 20 birds per pen. ^bSurvival rate =100%. ^cSEM, standard error of the mean. ^dLitter quality score ranged from 0 (wet and 100% caked to 10 (dry and friable litter). ^eEPEF, European Production Efficiency Factor.

Table 4. Effects of dietary treatments on results of slaughter analysis (mean values^a) of broiler chickens.

Parameters	Dietary treatment			SEM^b	p-value
	S0	S50	S100
Carcass^c	76.14	76.33	76.39	0.887	0.508
Breast^d	38.97	39.32	39.55	0.683	0.065
Leg^d	27.82	27.78	27.63	0.519	0.103
Abdominal fat^d	1.07^a	0.62^b	0.87^ab	0.085	0.007
Gizzard^d	1.88	1.93	1.74	0.123	0.474
Liver^d	2.79	2.87	2.96	0.059	0.149
Heart^d	0.59	0.57	0.59	0.038	0.480
Lymphoid organs^d
Spleen	0.13	0.14	0.14	0.007	0.589
Thymus	0.22	0.24	0.22	0.003	0.967
Bursa of Fabricius	0.14	0.13	0.15	0.002	0.510
GITW^d
Duodenum	0.75	0.68	0.72	0.031	0.264
Jejunum	1.38	1.33	1.36	0.057	0.746
Ileum	1.24	1.17	1.19	0.072	0.446
Caeca	0.31	0.32	0.32	0.016	0.978
GITL^e
Duodenum	1.74	1.72	1.78	0.044	0.778
Jejunum	4.29	4.39	4.33	0.095	0.242
Ileum	4.25	4.27	4.37	0.080	0.511
Caeca	1.84	1.67	1.75	0.074	0.231

GITW: gastrointestinal tract weights; GITL: gastrointestinal tract length. ^aData are means of 6 broilers per dietary treatment. ^bSEM: standard error of the mean. ^cRepresents as eight (g) of without head, neck, feet, and viscera carcase as 100 g of live body weight. ^d,eCalculated as relative weight or length (g and cm) of organs as 100 g carcase.

Table 5. Effects of dietary treatments on blood biochemical parameters (mean values¹) of broiler chickens.

Parameters	Dietary treatment			SEM^2	p-value
	S0	S50	S100
Plasma energy profile
Glu, mg/dL	220.10	208.19	203.67	8.00	0.540
T-Cho, mg/dL	108.17	98.33	106.86	7.03	0.506
TG, mg/dL	49.97^a	29.83^b	30.83^b	4.66	0.002
Plasma protein profile
T-Pro, g/dL	2.70	2.67	2.63	0.12	0.463
Alb, g/dL	0.95	0.88	0.92	0.05	0.871
BUN, mg/dL	2.90	3.00	2.83	0.14	0.574
T-Bil, mg/dL	0.10	0.13	0.10	0.02	0.162
Cre, mg/dL	0.05	0.08	0.07	0.02	0.092
UA, mg/dL	4.68	3.32	3.02	0.82	0.337
Plasma mineral profile
Ca, mg/dL	8.27	10.87	10.42	0.83	0.101
Mg, mg/dL	1.92	2.06	2.08	0.09	0.123
Fe, μg/dL	4.95	5.62	5.95	0.29	0.082
Plasma enzyme profile
ALT, U/L	15.17	10.50	11.50	2.29	0.317
AST, U/L	287.17	309.67	303.00	86.30	0.323
ALP, U/L	2441.50	1383.67	3037.17	612.25	0.188
GGT, U/L	49.00	47.83	47.17	4.98	0.345
LDH, U/L	2609.33	3239.83	3279.00	511.37	0.594

Glu, glucose; T-Cho, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; T-Pro, total protein; Alb, albumin; BUN, urea; T-Bil, total bilirubin; Cre, creatinine; UA, uric acid; Ca, calcium; Mg, magnesium; Fe, iron; ALT, AST, ALP, alkaline phosphatase; GGT, LDH. ^a,bMeans in the same row without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).^cData are means of 6 broilers per dietary treatment. ^dSEM: standard error of the mean.

Table 6. Effects of dietary treatments on physicochemical parameters of breast, and thigh muscle (mean values^d) of broiler chickens.

Parameters	Dietary treatment			SEM^e	P-value
	S0	S50	S100
Breast muscle
Moisture, %	76.60	76.50	76.55	0.30	0.969
Protein, %	21.18	21.22	21.12	0.31	0.977
Fat, %	1.46	1.51	1.60	0.10	0.639
Collagen, %	0.69^c	0.85^b	0.91^a	0.01	0.000
pH24	6.10	6.05	6.07	0.08	0.362
L*	55.44^c	60.62^a	58.98^b	0.70	0.001
a*	10.87	11.18	10.93	0.44	0.564
b*	12.27	12.22	12.34	0.52	0.771
Thigh muscle
Moisture, %	75.96	75.93	75.98	0.21	0.988
Protein, %	18.10	18.07	18.03	0.08	0.872
Fat, %	5.79	5.89	5.92	0.10	0.654
Collagen, %	1.02^c	1.13^b	1.26^a	0.01	0.000
pH24	6.15	6.14	6.11	0.02	0.120
L*	55.65^b	60.28^a	60.70^a	0.57	0.001
a*	11.40	11.32	11.44	0.53	0.673
b*	9.28	9.16	9.23	0.67	0.515

pH_24, pH 24 h after slaughter; L*, lightness; a*, redness; b*, yellowness. ^a,b,c Means in the same row without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05); ^dData are means of 6 broilers per dietary treatment. ^eSEM, standard error of the mean;

Figure 1. Textural properties of breast muscle (data are means of 6 broilers per dietary treatment). ^a-bWithin each treatment, means without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

Figure 2. Textural properties of thigh muscle (data are means of 6 broilers per dietary treatment). ^a-bWithin each treatment, means without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

Figure 3. Microflora evaluation of caecal digesta at d 42. ^a,b Means with different superscripts within the same bacterial species are significantly different at p < 0.05.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable arguments.