Table 6.
Effect of dietary coconut oil as a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) source on carcass characteristics of 42-d-old broilers1
| Items | Level of coconut oil (%) | SEM | p value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
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| R02 | R25 | R50 | R75 | R100 | ANOVA | Linear | Quadratic | ||
| Dressing percentage (%)3 | 74.1 | 75.3 | 72.7 | 74.4 | 71.6 | 1.21 | 0.90 | 0.51 | 0.73 |
| Breast weight/eviscerated weight (%) | 24.4 | 23.4 | 23.9 | 23.1 | 23.1 | 0.37 | 0.83 | 0.33 | 0.84 |
| Leg weight/eviscerated weight (%) | 15.8 | 15.8 | 16.0 | 15.9 | 16.3 | 0.12 | 0.41 | 0.13 | 0.47 |
| Abdominal fat weight (g) | 46.3 | 42.9 | 40.9 | 38.8 | 39.6 | 1.32 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.39 |
| Abdominal fat weight/eviscerated weight (%) | 2.22 | 1.98 | 1.83 | 1.46 | 1.92 | 0.21 | 0.04 | 0.09 | 0.05 |
| Subcutaneous fat thickness (mm) | 7.0 | 6.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 0.20 | <0.01 | 0.22 | <0.01 |
| Intermuscular fat width (mm) | 13.6 | 11.1 | 10.9 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 0.41 | 0.05 | 0.60 | <0.01 |
SEM, standard error of the mean; ANOVA, analysis of variance.
1
Values are the means of 6 birds per treatment.
2
R0 = soybean oil; R25 = 25% coconut oil and 75% soybean oil; R50 = 50% coconut oil and 50% soybean oil; R75 = 75% coconut oil and 25% soybean oil; R100 = coconut oil.
3
Dressing percentage is carcass weight (defeathered and eviscerated) as a percentage of body weight.