Composition of Slow-Growing Male Chicken’s Meat and Bone Quality as Affected by Dietary Moringa oleifera Lam. Meal

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Chicken meat is one of the most consumed in the world because of its nutritional composition, which is influenced by several factors including the genotype, sex, age, health status of the birds, and the production system used to raise them in. It has been demonstrated that diet and the possibility to exercise are two key components that have direct effects on the nutrient content of chicken meat. However, few studies have focused on including a vegetable material that is relatively inexpensive such as Moringa oleifera Lam. meal (MOM) to reach this goal while providing outdoor access to the birds. Therefore, this study explored the influence of different levels of MOM on the meat and bone quality of slow-growing male chickens raised with access to outdoors in the tropics. The results demonstrated that breast muscle ash content significantly increased with MOM, whereas meat dry matter, protein, and fat content remained unaffected by the diets. Oleic, linoleic, stearic, palmitic, and palmitoleic acids were present in both the breast and leg muscles. Bone quality parameters, such as femoral and tibial length, tibial diameter, bone ash, and phosphorous content, were significantly influenced by the diets in a positive way. It is concluded that MOM can be used to positively modify the bone quality of slow-growing layer-type male chickens raised with outdoor access in a tropical environment. ABSTRACT: This study investigated the impact of Moringa oleifera Lam. meal (MOM) on meat nutritional properties and bone quality of slow-growing layer-type male chickens raised in semi-intensive conditions. A total of 198, 72-d-old Dominant Blue D 107 male chickens, with an average weight of 1093 ± 15.2 g, were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments supplemented with 0, 3, and 6% of MOM that corresponded to T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Each treatment, consisting of six replicated floor pens of 11 birds, had access to the outdoors for 49 days. The results showed that breast muscle ash percentage was significantly greater (P ≤ 0.05) in T2 in comparison to the T1 group. Meat dry matter, protein, and fat content were not influenced by the treatments (P > 0.05). Regardless of the treatments, oleic acid (C18:1N9C) was numerically more abundant in the breast than in the leg muscle. Alternatively, femoral and tibial lengths were shorter (P ≤ 0.05) in birds fed 3% MOM than the two other groups. Moreover, birds fed with MOM had greater tibial diameter (P ≤ 0.05) than those that were fed without MOM. In addition, bone ash content and phosphorous amount were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.05) in birds fed 6% MOM compared to those fed without MOM. The data of this study indicate that up to 6% of MOM may be added to the diet of slow-growing layer-type male chickens raised with outdoor access under tropical conditions to improve bone quality traits.