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Research Article

Meat quality of broiler chickens fed mixtures with varied levels and varieties of faba bean

Anna Milczarek, Maria Osek, Magdalena Pachnik

Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Management, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Bolesława Prusa 14, 08-110 Siedlce, Poland

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 15(4), 2016, 29‒40
2. DOI: 10.21005/asp.2016.15.4.03

Abstract. The material were leg muscles collected from 40 broiler chickens from 5 feeding groups (I, II, III, IV and V). The differentiating factor of the groups were the seeds of faba bean added to starter/grower feed, according to the following design: group I (control) – without faba beans, group II – 8%/15% high-tannin faba beans, group III – 16%/22% high-tannin faba beans, group IV – 8%/15% low-tannin faba beans, group V – 16%/22% low-tannin faba beans addition. It was found that the addition of high- or low-tannin faba beans to compound broiler feeds did not affect the basic composition of leg muscles. More linoleic acid, C18:2(n-6), and linolenic acid, C18:3(n-3), as well as total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), were found in the muscles of chickens fed on faba beans mixes, however, the difference was significant (P  ≤  0.05) only between the muscles of group III and control birds. In the lipids of the treated chickens, the proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) decreased significantly (P  ≤  0.01). Significantly lower (P  ≤  0.01) atherogenic index (AI) and thrombogenic index (TI) were found in leg muscles of faba bean treated chicken, particularly with its higher feed content. Moreover, a high content of faba beans in the feed had a positive effect on the sensory qualities.

Keywords: faba beans, broiler chickens, leg muscles, chemical composition, physical properties, taste qualities