Effect of corn oil on the digestibility and economic viability of broiler chicken feed, and on the bromatological composition of breast meat.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the digestibility, economic efficiency, and composition of breast muscle in broiler chickens fed with a diet containing corn oil as an alternative replacement to soybean oil. We evaluated feed digestibility, crude protein (CP), ethereal extract (EE), apparent metabolizable energy (AME), and apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen balance (AMEn) during two periods (17-21 and 31-35 days of age). An analysis of breast composition, feed cost (Yi), economic efficiency index (EEI), and cost index (CI) for live weight of the animal and carcass between the two oil sources was also carried out. The design was completely randomized in a 2x2 factorial design with two ingredients (soybean oil and corn oil) and two periods (17-21 and 31-35 days). Digestibility tests were performed with four replicates per treatment and two birds per pen, and tests of breast muscle composition were made with six replicates. There was an interaction between diet and age for digestibility of CP (P < 0.05), which was higher (P < 0.05) at 17-21 days using soybean oil. The digestibility of the feed was higher (P < 0.05) at 31-35 days compared to 17-21 days. The digestibility of EE was not affected (P > 0.05) by treatment or age. The use of corn oil resulted in higher (P < 0.05) AME in 17-21 day olds, and higher AME and AMEn in 31-35 day olds; there was no difference (P > 0.05) in AMEn among 17-21 day olds. In breast composition, there were no differences (P > 0.05) in deposition of EE. For CP level and dry matter (DM), corn oil showed better values, while for breast moisture, soybean oil resulted in higher levels of moisture compared to corn oil (P < 0.05). The economic viability analysis favored soybean oil. Our results suggested that corn oil can replace soybean oil in diets formulated with sorghum, since it has higher apparent metabolizable energy and resulted in better breast composition.