EFFECT OF LIME (Citrus auentifolia) JUICE ON MEAT YIELD AND PROFITABILITY OF BROILERS

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1 EFFECT OF LIME (Citrus auentifolia) JUICE ON MEAT YIELD AND PROFITABILITY OF BROILERS ABSTRACT Ndelekwute 1, E. K., Okereke 2, C. O., Essien 1, E. B. and Udorok 1, U. E. 1 Department of Animal Science, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. 2 Livestock Unit, National Root Crops Research Institute. Umudike, Abia State, Nigeria The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of lime juice on carcass yield, meat quality, internal organs and economic benefit of broiler chickens. 150 day old broilers of Anak strain were used in a 5x3 randomized experiment with each units of ten birds serving as replicates within each treatment. Five diet treatments containing 0.00, 10, 15, 20 and 25mls/kg of lime juice respectively. The experiment lasted for 8 weeks. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Results showed that the lime juice had no significant effect on carcass yield, nutritive value and meat ph but significantly (P<0.05) increased the size of kidney, gall bladder, revenue and gross margin and bile volume. The size of the small intestine was reduced significantly (P<0.05) reduced while 20 and 25mls of juice reduced abdominal fat significantly (P<0.05). Therefore, 20mls/kg feed of lime juice positively influenced the economic benefit of broilers without detrimental effect on the carcass and could be recommended for use by broiler farmers. Keywords: broiler, carcass, benefit, organs, meat. INTRODUCTION Supplementing animal feeds with feed additive based growth promoters has been a common practice for many years (Wegener et al., 1999). It helps growing animals to effectively digest their feed, derive maximum benefit from it and thereby allowing them to grow strong and healthy. A current challenge in the poultry production is to exploit the use of specific dietary supplements to boost the intrinsic potential of poultry birds to perform better. One of the nutritional strategies to enhancing the rapid growth of monogastric animals had been the addition of feed additives such as antibiotics (Windisch et al., 2007). Although antibiotics possess beneficial effects, their use as growth promoters in the poultry industry has been intensively controversial because of the development of bacterial resistance and potential negative consequences on human health. According to World Health Organization (WHO), resistance to antibiotics is the ability of the bacterial population to survive the inhibitory or lethal effect of antimicrobial agent resulting from the previous exposure to sub therapeutic level of the antimicrobial agent (Akpodiette et al., 2000.). The dangers posed by the development of resistance in poultry and human beings have been documented. Ricke, (2003) showed that resistant bacteria can be transferred from poultry products to human population through consumption or handling of poultry meat contaminated with the resistant pathogen. There is an increasing interest in utilization of growth promoters of natural origin (Grela and Klebamik, 2007). This has resulted to the use of organic acids, spices and essential oils (Ndelekwute et al., 2013).The supplementation of organic acids in the diets of broilers enhanced nutrient utilization, growth and feed efficiency (Doyle, 2001). Organic acids such as citric, ascorbic, acetic, and butyric and formic acids occur naturally such as in fruits and ants. However, available information on organic acids was on synthetic types which most farmers may not have access to. The next alternative is to use natural sources which could be accessed easily. Lime a citrus spp which abounds in tropical ecosystem is a rich source of citric and ascorbic acids (Vandercook, 1977; Penniston et al., 2008); NFH, 2013). Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of natural organic acids contained in lime juice on carcass, internal organs and the economic benefit. MATERIALS AND METHODS Experimental site The experiment was conducted at the Poultry unit of the University of Uyo Teaching and Research Farm. Uyo is situated at between latitude 4 50' and 5 07' N and longitude 7 45' and 8 05' E in the rainforest zone with annual rainfall of 800mm. The experiment was conducted during rainy season with temperature range of C throughout the duration of the experiment. Processing of natural source of organic acids The lime fruits were washed with clean water and cut into two halves with a sharp knife. The juice was expelled manually by squeezing and juice containing the seeds was passed through a filter material to remove the seeds. After which the citric and ascorbic acids content and the ph were determined according to Holden et al. (2005), Novella (2014) and Helmenstine (2014). NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 2,

2 Experimental design and diet Completely randomized design (CRD) was employed. The experiment was conducted with 150 day old unsexed broiler chicks of Anak strain. The chicks were randomly divided into five treatment groups (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) each having 30 chicks. Each treatment was replicated three times of 10 chicks each. T1 was the control containing no lime juice. The other treatment groups contained respectively 10, 15, 20 and 25 ml of lime juice per kg feed. The experiment started from the first week. The diets were formulated as recommended by NRC (1994) as shown in Tables 1 and 2. The proximate analysis was done according to AOAC (2000). Table 1: Ingredient and nutrient composition of experimental starter diet Ingredients (%) T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 Maize Soybean meal Fish meal Palm kernel cake Wheat offal Bone meal Lime juice Salt Lysine Methionine Premix* Total Nutrient Composition (%) Crude Protein Crude Fibre Ether Extract Total Ash Calcium Phosphorus Lysine Methionine Energy (KcalME/kg ) *Starter Premix supplied per kg diet: vitamin A 15,000 I.U, vitamin D iu, thiamin 2mg, Riboflavin 6mg, pyridoxine 4mg, Niacin 40mg, cobalamine 0.05g, Biotin 0.08mg, choline chloride 0.05g, Manganese 0.096g, Zinc 0.06g, Iron 0.024g, Copper 0.006g, Iodine 0.014g, Selenium 0.24mg, Cobalt 0.024mg and Antioxidant 0.125g. CON = control, AA = acetic acid, BA = butyric acid, CA = citric acid, FA = formic acid Management of experimental birds Upon arrival, the birds were weighed and the initial weight was recorded. To cushion the effect of stress, they were given glucose through drinking water. The birds were brooded for 3 weeks. On the second day vitamin, minerals and antibiotic were added to their drinking water for one week. The birds were exposed to 24hrs lighting schedule throughout the brooding period. Adequate sanitary measures were taken. The birds were adequately given medications as prophylactic measures against bacteria mycoplasma and cocccidial infection. Newcastle and Gumboro disease vaccines were administered. The birds were transferred to rearing house at the end of the third week. Feed and water were given ad libitum throughout the experiment. Carcass and internal organ analysis Carcass analysis was performed based on the procedure outlines by Scott et al. (1969). At the end of the feeding experiment, 15 birds, one from each replicate of a treatment were used for carcass analysis. The birds were fasted for 18 hours to clear the gut. They were slaughtered by severing the neck with sharp knife and both the trachea and oesophagus were cut. Hot water was used to remove the feathers by immersing in hot water for 30 seconds according to Oluyemi and Roberts (2000). The loosed feathers were immediately plucked by hand. The legs, head and neck were cut and the crop gently removed. The abdomen was cut open and holding the gizzard the viscera was pulled out and the abdominal fat was removed. The dressed bird was then cut into parts (breast, thigh, drumstick back and wing). Weight of the dressed parts, abdominal fat and internal organs were determined. Dress carcass weight, internal organs and abdominal fat were expressed as percentage live weight while weights of different cut carcass parts were expressed as percentage of dressed carcass weight according to Ndelekwute et al. (2013). The data were transformed using Arc Sin according to Preston (1996) as reported by Ndelekwute et al. (2013). NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 2,

3 Determination of nutritive value of the meat The meat from the breast, thigh and drumstick were used to determine the crude protein, ether extract, crude fibre and ash content. Skin of each mentioned cut parts was gently removed and 20g of meat from each was removed. They were pulled together and homogenized. Proximate Analysis was carried out according to AOAC (2000). The meat ph was determined by first mixing 10g of the homogenized meat with 10ml deionised water. Thereafter an electrode of ph meter (Havana Micro computer ph meter, model H18424, made in Romania) was dipped into the mixture and reading taken. Table 2: Ingredient and nutrient composition of experimental finisher diet Ingredients (%) T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 Maize Soybean meal Palm kernel cake Wheat offal Bone meal Lime juice Salt Lysine Methionine Premix Total Nutrient Composition (%) Crude Protein , Crude Fibre Ether Extract Total Ash Calcium Phosphorus Lysine Methionine Energy (KcalME kg -1 diet) *.Finisher Premix supplied per kg diet vitamin 10, 0001.u., vitamin D3 12,0001.u. Vitamin E 201.U., Vitamin K 2.5mg, thiamine 2.0mg, Riboflavin 3.0mg, pyridoxine 4.0mg, Niacin 20mg, cobalamin 0.05mg, pantthemic acid 5.0mg, Folic acid 0.5mg, Biotin 0.08mg, choline chloride 0.2mg, Manganese 0.006g, Zinc 0.03g, Copper 0.006g, Iodine g, Selenium 0.24g, cobalt 0.25g and antioxidant 0.125g Economic benefit analysis Economic analysis was carried out to determine the economic implications of adding lime juice to broiler diet. Parameters used to judge this were cost per kg feed, feed cost per bird, feed per weight gain, revenue per bird and gross margin per bird which were calculated as follows. Cost per kg feed = Summation of price per kg of feed ingredients x their Proportion in the feed formula 100 Feed cost per bird = Cost per kg feed x quantity of feed consumed. Total feed cost = feed cost per bird of starter phase + feed cost per bird of finisher phase Feed cost per weight gain = Cost per kg feed x feed: gain ratio. Revenue per bird = Price per kg live bird x Final live weight Goss margin = Revenue per bird feed cost per bird Statistical analysis All data generated were subjected to analysis of variance and means that were significantly difference were separated using Duncan New Multiple Range Test according to Steel and Torrie (1980). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Organic acid content and ph of lime juice The lime juice contained 1.60% citric and 1.20% ascorbic acids with ph of 3.5. This is a clear indication that the lime juice was acidic confirming the report of Novella (2014). However, the citric acid content was not in line with Pennistine et al. (2014) who reported 4.8% may be as a result of location and seasonal variation. Carcass yield and internal organs The effect of lime juice on carcass quality (Table 3) shows that there were no differences (P>0.05). This implies that the lime juice was not deleterious on the carcass and can be used to produce broiler chickens. Abdominal fat was significantly (P<0.050 reduced by 20 and 25mls of lime juice. This is in accordance to the report that lime juice reduced body fat and was used to trim weight in human (Liu et al., 2012). NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 2,

4 Table 3: Effect of natural organic acids on carcass yield of broilers Dressed (%) Breast (%) Thigh (%) Drumstick (%) Back (%) Wing (%) Abdominal fat (%) 1.55 a 1.45 a 1.40 a 0.75 b 0.60 b 0.31 Effect of citric acid on the internal organ of broilers is shown in Table 4. It indicates that only the kidney, gall bladder, bile volume and small intestine were significantly (P<0.05) different. The kidney, gall bladder, bile volume were heavier in the treated groups than in the control, with 2.5% lime juice having higher values of all. Table 4: Effect of natural organic acids on internal organs and bile of broilers Proventriculus Gizzard Liver Pancreas Kidney 0.25 b 0.34 b 0.36 b 0.38 b 0.43 a 0.16 Spleen Heart Lungs Gall bladder 0.05 c 0.10 b 0.10 b 0.14 a 0.14 a 0.03 Bile volume 0.01 c 0.05 b 0.06 b 0.09 a 0.09 a Small intestine 3.09 a 3.08 a 2.85 a 2.89 a 2.39 b 0.50 Caecum Large intestine The reverse was observed in small intestine which was heavier in the control compared to lime juice. The heavier weight of small intestine in the control could be ascribed to higher population of bacteria. Organic acids reduced bacteria mass in the gut as reported by Dibner (2004) and Ndelekwute et al. (2012). The heavier gall bladder could have been resulted from the increase in bile volume probably induced by the lime juice. Dibner (2004) and Ndelekwute et al. (2013) found that organic acids enhanced bile secretion. In this study, kidney weight in the treated groups was higher than in control. This could be as a result of the kidney responding to presence of lime juice which contained organic acids. This did not agreed with Ndelekwute et al. (2012) who observed bigger kidney in control than in the organic acid supplemented groups. However, Islam et al. (2008) found no significant effect, Nutritive value of the meat Table 5 shows the effect of treatment on nutritive value of the broiler meat. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in all the nutritive value parameters measured. Also the ph level of the meat was not significant (P>0.05). This is an indication that treatment did not affect the quality of the meat negatively. Insignificant level of ph shows that the organic acids did not accumulate in the meat indicating that probably the acids were well metabolized. Organic acids such as citric acid are involved in metabolic process of the body especially in carbohydrate metabolism (Bender and Mayes, 2006). Farmers have expressed fears about accumulation of organic acids in broilers fed diets containing organic acids for a long period as in feeding of antibiotics. Table 5: Effect of Natural Organic Acids on Nutritive value and ph of Broiler meat Moisture content (%) Crude protein (%) Ether extract (%) Crude fibre (%) Ash (%) ph NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 2,

5 Economic benefit The addition of lime juice to the diet (Table 6) led to marginal but progressive increase in the cost per kg feed because of increasing level of lime juice. In addition, feed cost per gain and feed cost per bird were not significant (P>0.05). This portrays lime juice as economical natural feed additive. The revenue and gross margin were significant and followed the same trend. Except 1.0% that was similar to the control, other levels of lime juice gave higher values of revenue and gross margin. The higher revenue was due to the influence of lime juice on the live weight and subsequently the selling price of the birds. Table 6: Effect of natural organic acids on economics of broilers Cost/ kg Cost/ bird Cost/ gain Revenue 1653 c bc b ab a Gross margin c bc b ab a CONCLUSION From this result, it could be inferred that dietary supplementation of broiler diet with lime juice as source of natural organic acids, improved economic returns and had no detrimental effect on carcass yield, internal organs and nutritive value of the meat. Therefore, 20mls/kg feed (2.0%) of lime juice could be added to broiler diets for profit maximization. REFERENCES Akpodiette, O. J. and Inoni, O. E Economics of Broiler Chickens Fed Maggot as Replacement for Fish Meal. Nigeria Journal of Animal Production. 27(1): AOAC Official Methods of Analysis. 15 th edition. Washington D.C., USA. Bender, D. A. and Mayes, P. A The citric acid cycle: The catabolism of acetyl CoA. In: Harpers Illustrated Biochemistry. 27 th ed. Murray, R. K., Granner, D. K. and Rodwell, V. W. (eds.). McGraw Hill, New Delhi, India, (pp 691). Dibner, J Organic acids: can they replace antibiotic growth promoters. Feed International. 25(12): Doyle, M. E Alternatives to Antibiotic Use for Growth Promoter in Animal Husbandry. Food Research. 1: Grela, E. R. and Klebamik, Chemical Composition of Organic Acid and its Utilization in Piglet Diet. Medycyna Wet, 63: Helmenstine, A. M Vitamin C determination by iodine titration. Holden, J. M., Bhagwat, S. A., Haytowitz, D. B., Gebhardt, S. E., Dwyer, J. T., Peterson, J. Beecher, G. R., Eldridge, A. L and Balentine, D Development of a database of critically evaluated flavonoids data: Application of USDA s data quality evaluation system. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 18: Islam, M. Z., Khandakar, Z. H., Chowdhury, S. D., Islam, K. S Effect of citric acid and acetic acid on performance of broilers. Journal of Bangladesh Agriculture University. 6(2): Liu, L., Heying, E. and Tanumihardjo, S.A History, Global Distribution, and Nutritional Importance of Citrus Fruits. Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences, University of University Of Wisconsin-Madison Ndelekwute, E. K., Uzegbu, H. O., Madu, C. O., Assam, E. M Organic acids as feed additives in pig and poultry diets. A Review. Nigeria Agricultural Journal. 43: Ndelekwute, E. K., Amaefule, K. U., Uzegbu, H. O., Okereke, C. O Effect of finisher diets treated with organic acids on carcass and internal organs of broiler chickens. Nigeria Journal of Animal Production. 40(1): NFH, Natural food Hub. The vitamin C content of fruits of the World. Oluyemi, J. A. and Roberts, F. A. (1979): Poultry Production in Warm Wet Climates. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd Pages Pennistine, K. L., Nakada, S., Holmes, P. R. and Assimos, D. G Quantitative assessment of citric acid in lemon juice and lime juice and commercially available fruit juice products. Journal of Endourology. 22(30): NJAFE VOL. 11 No. 2,

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