Jaapar MS - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, ۴۳۴۰۰ UPM Serdang, Malaysia
Alshelmani MI - Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, ۴۳۴۰۰ UPM Serdang, Malaysia
Humam AM - Department of Animal Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
Loh TC - Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, ۴۳۴۰۰ UPM Serdang, Malaysia

A feeding trial was carried out to investigate the effects of lecithin on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, lipid profile, carcass characteristics and meat quality of broiler chickens. A total of 240 oneday- old male broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were obtained from a local hatchery and raised for 42 days. The chicks were divided into 5 dietary treatments. The diets supplemented with prilled palm fat + 2% lysolecithin (PFL) replacing palm oil at 0%, 1%, 3%, 5%, and 7%. Each treatment group was divided into 6 replicates and 8 chicks per each replicate. Feed and water were offered ad libitum to the birds. The individual body weight and the feed intake for each replicate were recorded. In the finisher and overall periods, the findings showed that body weight gain (BWG) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in birds fed 1% PFL compared to those birds fed 5% or 7% PFL. The nutrient digestibility was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in broiler supplemented with 1% PFL compared to the rest of the treatment groups. However, no significant differences were observed against 3% PFL for crude fat digestibility. The breast meat color was within the normal range in broiler fed 1% PFL than those fed higher ratios of PFL. The study revealed that supplementation of PFL at 1% substantially improved nutrient digestibility as well as BWG and FCR during the overall period.

Lipid profile, Broiler chicken, Fat digestibility, Emulsifier agent