Research Information System
Frontiers in Animal Science, vol.4, pp.1-2, 2023 (ESCI, Scopus)
There are many available ingredients to include in dietary formulations for poultry,
which present different nutritional compositions, market availability, energy and nutrient
utilization, and anti-nutritional factors. In broiler diets, energy represents the major cost in
feed formulations, followed by protein, and phosphorus. Additionally, the demand for
more cost-effective energy and protein sources has increased along with the cost of
ingredients and supplies. In this context, the poultry industry has been evaluating
alternative ingredients aiming to reduce the final cost of diet formulation and to
increase the profitability of production.
Alternative ingredients have been included in poultry diets specifically to partially
replace corn and soybean meal (SBM), which are the main sources of energy and protein,
respectively. Vegetable sources have been selected according to their nutritional
composition, costs, characteristics that contribute to feed processing, and availability in
different regions and countries. In animal-origin ingredients, energy and nutrient
composition as well as protein digestibility and mineral bioavailability are more
subjected to variability due to the type of raw materials used in its production,
processing conditions, and variety of processing tissues and residues. Therefore, more
research has been done to better understand the optimal recommended inclusion levels,
nutritional matrix of vegetable or animal-origin alternative ingredients, their possible
association with feed additives, and the standardization of their composition.