Effects of feeding cassava pulp fermented with Acremonium charticola on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and meat quality of broiler chicks

Cassava pulp is an energy-rich by-product of the tapioca industry, and is known as a good media for growing filamentous fungi. It may therefore be not only an alternative to maize in poultry diets, but also a carrier for beneficial fungi. This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary inclusion of the fungus Acremonium charticola (grown in A. charticola-fermented cassava pulp) (AC-FCP), with or without antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs), on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and meat quality of broiler chicks. A total of 192 broiler chicks were assigned to one of four dietary treatments, including a control diet (maize-soybean-meal-based diet), control diet + AGPs (neomycin) (0.0003% of diet), AC-FCP diet (containing 16% of AC-FCP), and AC-FCP + AGPs. There was a tendency towards lower feed costs per kilogram live bodyweight (BW) gain in AC-FCP and AC-FCP + AGPs than in the control and control + AGPs birds. The birds fed the AC-FCP diet had greater spleen relative weight than the control and AC-FCP + AGPs birds. The birds fed diets containing AC-FCP and AC-FCP + AGPs had heavier ileum and caecum, and tended to have smaller livers than the control and control + AGPs birds. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) percentage inhibition values were lowest and highest in the AC-FCP and control birds, respectively. The breast meat of the control birds had lower crude protein content than that of other experimental groups. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of AC-FCP reduced the feed cost per kilogram live weight gain of broiler chicks. The fungus A. charticola (grown in AC-FCP) seems to play an important role in increasing the relative weight of spleen, ileum and caecum, alleviating oxidative stress, and increasing the protein content of breast muscle of broiler chicks.