Growth performance, abdominal fat and fat digestibility in broiler chicken fed with synthetic emulsifier and natural biosurfactant

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the response of exogenous emulsifier on broiler performance, abdominal fat and fat digestibility. A corn-soy based broiler diet was formulated with fixed ratio 2: 1 (oil-to-water), supplemented with glyceryl polyethylene glycol ricinoleate (GPGR) synthetic emulsifier and lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) natural biosurfactant. One-day-old Cobb 500 male broilers (1,800) with nine treatments diet were used in this study. The treatments were T1, Basal diet with metabolizable energy (ME) 3,000 kcal/kg in starter (S) and 3,100 kcal/kg in grower (G); T2, Basal diet with ME 2,900 kcal/kg (S) and 3,000 kcal/kg (G); T3, Basal diet with ME 2,800 kcal/kg (S) and 2,900 kcal/kg (G); T4, T5 and T6 consisted of T1, T2 and T3 supplemented with GPGR; T7, T8 and T9 consisted of T1, T2 and T3 supplemented with LPC. The study was conducted 14 days for starter and another 21 days for grower phase. The results of the experiment demonstrated the effect of emulsifier on broiler performance was dependent on the ME level used in the diet formulations and ages of the bird. Emulsifier improved FCR in starter phase at higher ME level, but was not significantly improved at lower ME levels of diets. Correlation between emulsifier and low ME diet in FCR was not observed in present study. Fat digestibility at all levels of ME were higher in birds fed with emulsified diets. However, compensatory effect to recover the energy value to control level was not found. Significant reduction in abdominal fat and digesta fat was observed in birds which consumed emulsified grower diets. However, significant difference between synthetic emulsifier and natural biosurfactant was not observed.