Effects of pre- and post-extraction autoclaving on the nutritional value of rapeseed meal for broiler chicks

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to study the influence of autoclaving for different length of times before and after extraction of oil on the nutritional value of rapeseed meal for broiler chicks. Seeds of HG-rapeseed variety Pakcheen (glucosinolates 60.8 mu mol/g in fat free meal) were subjected to autoclaving treatments for 15 and 30 minutes. Alternatively the oil was extracted from the seeds and the resultant meal was given the autoclaving treatments. These meals were incorporated into the diet of broiler chicks at a level of 10%. The experiment lasted for five weeks. Data was recorded for feed intake and weight gain of the chicks. Results indicated that different dietary treatments did not significantly influence the bird's performance. It was, however, observed that feed intake in general was better in the case of pre-extraction autoclaving. Maximum total weight gain per chick (952.3 g), was recorded with seed autoclaved for 30 minutes, followed by control (950 g). Feed to gain ratio obtained by different groups ranged from 1.94 (untreated control) to 2.08 (Seed Autoclaved -30 minutes). Dressing percentage of different groups ranged from 51.4 (standard) to 53.49 (MA-30) (see table 2), and the differences again were not significant. It can be concluded that this rapeseed meal at a level of 10% inclusion in a diet containing several supplementary protein sources of animal and plant origin, was safe and did not adversely affect the bird's growth performance.