Chemical composition of chicken intestines pre-dried with vegetable meals: alternative protein for aquaculture

Objective. Characterizing the chemical composition of pre-dried chicken intestines with vegetable meal (VM), as an alternative source of protein for aquaculture. Materials and methods. Chicken intestines, grounded, cooked and defatted (CIGCD), were mixed individually with VM: rice powder (RP), wheat bran (WB), palm kernel cake (PKC), cornmeal (CM) and soybean meal (SBM), in proportions (w:w): 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50 and 40:60 (CIGCD:VM), for a total of 20 experimental treatments, according to a completely randomized design. Dry matter, crude protein, lipid, fiber, ashes, gross energy (MJ kg-1) and costs were evaluated. The principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to verify the interaction between proportions. Results. The proportions with higher levels of CIGCD, protein and lipid content increased (p<0.05), with reduced cost (p<0.05). Those with higher values of VM, fiber and ash showed high values (p<0.05). The mixtures with SBM, high figures of protein, energy and costs (p<0.05) and with PKC the lowest costs (p<0.05). Conclusions. The proportions of CIGCD:VM reached high levels of dry matter, which facilitated the dehydration process. The content of protein, lipid, energy and costs, obtained in the different mixtures, accredits them as possible aquaculture feed, to replace conventional protein in diets, according to the species, productive purpose and market requirements. The PCA with covariance matrix suggests that the mixtures CIGCD:VM, the treatments CIGCD:SBM (80:20), CIGCD:SBM (70:30) and CIGCD:SBM (60:40) have better nutritional characteristics, although, the CIGCD:PKC (80:20) ratio showed high protein levels and was the most economical.