Morphometric study of the gastrointestinal tract of broilers that consumed diets supplemented with vinasse

Introduction

The shortage of conventional food for Monogastrics species, due to high price, has encouraged the exploration of unconventional foods (Nieves, 2006). In this context, by-products of citrus and sugar production play a major role (González & Vergara 2004).

Valdivié (2005) suggested non-conventional alternatives to solve the shortage of food in the field of poultry feed, with the use of these by-products. In these considerations, not only total production, but also the quality of eggs and meat were taken into account. These topics are being explored by many researchers (Solano et al. 2001; Ojeda & Cáceres, 2002; Valdivié, 2003).

Knowledge of the animal physiology plays an important role in explaining many productive responses in animals and the impact that the use of any new food may have upon their health. Based on this, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of vinasse at 5% in the morphometry of the gastrointestinal tract of broilers.

Materials & Methods
Animals

20 male, 1 day old broilers (EB-34) were used. The birds were housed in metal cages. The treatments consisted in adding or not vinasse at 0.5% (Table 1) in the daily diet as a supplement from the first day of age, to a corn-soy based diet. The supply of vinasse took place gradually in the feed; at the initial stage (1-20 days) 50 ml/feeder; at the growth stage (21-35 days) 100 ml/feeder and at the final stage (36-42 days) 150 ml/feeder. The birds had access to food and water ad libitum.

Table 1. . Characterization of vinasse at 0.5%.

	DM (%)	Ash, %	Calcium, %	Phosphorus (%)	pH
Vinasse	15.09	25.75	1.68	0.30	4.5

Diets

The animals were subjected to diets that were formulated according to the requirements established by NRC (1994) for the different stages of development (Table 2).

Table 2. Experimental diets for the different development periods (initial - growth - final)

Raw Materials	CORN - SOY SYSTEMA
Initial (%)	Growth (%)	Final (%)
Corn flour	42.36	51.05	57.20
Soy flour	46.9	38.02	33.38
Vegetable oil	6.09	6.25	5.18
Premix	1.00	1.00	1.00
Dicalcium phosphate	1.80	1.75	1.62
Calcium carbonate	0.61	1.15	1.00
Common Salt	0.25	0.25	0.25
DL-Methionine	0.25	0.19	0.23
BHT	0.01	0.01	0.01
Coline	0.15	0.15	0.15
CONTRIBUTIONS
Gross protein (%)	23.00	20.00	18.5
Metabolizable Energy, Kcal/Kg	3100	3200	3200
Calcium (%)	0.95	0.90	0.81
Total Phosphorus (%)	0.45	0.42	0.40
Methionine + Cystine	0.95	0.85	0.88

Experimental Procedure:

On day 42, the animals are weighed and slaughtered by use of the jugular vein bleeding method described by Sánchez (1990), to extract the auxiliary organs (liver) and the gastrointestinal tract (stomach muscle, small intestine and cecum).

The digestive organs were weighed in full and empty state using a SARTORIUS ISO 9001 technical scale. For statistical analysis, the weights were expressed as relative to the live weight (LW %).

Hematological indicators

For measuring the hematocrit, Hawkley microhematocrit measurement equipment of English manufacture was used. The cyano-meta-hemoglobin method described by Lynch et al. was used for measurement of hemoglobin. (1969).

Statistical method

A completely randomized design with two treatments and 10 repetitions was used. Data were processed using the Statgraphics Plus computerized statistical package

(2001), version 5.0 on Windows XP. The average values were compared using the Duncan Test (1955).

Results and Discussion

The weights of the digestive tract, the stomach muscle, the small intestine and the secum are indicated in Table 3.

An increase was observed in the weight of the digestive tract (p < 0.01) in birds that consumed diet supplemented with vinasse; this may have been determined by the additive effect of vinasse which consists in the improvement of the physiological, biochemical and microbiological patterns at this level. Urrutia (1997) reports that the weight reached by broilers, is not in proportion with the size of its GIT, since the genetic muscle growth rate is much higher than the growth of the organs.

Table 3. Weight of the different segments of the gastrointestinal tract and liver, as an auxiliary organ.

INDICATORS (G)	CONTROL	VINASSE	EE±SIG
Live weight	1820	2060	0.54***
GIT (Full)	207.8	249.5	7.73**
Stomach muscle (empty)	42.3	44.5	1.59
Small intestine (full)	154	161	2.92
Small intestine (empty)	72	93	1.58*
Cecum (Full)	17	30	0.71*
Cecum (empty)	10	11	1.41
Liver	47.3	57.1	2.55*

^{* p<0.05, ** p<0.01 y *** p < 0.001 (Duncan, 1955).}

This result could contribute to the improvement of production indicators of poultry, since it translates into increased absorption surface, which favors the digestive efficiency of food. Onifade (1997) employed four doses of a strain of dry yeast as an additive in broilers (1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 g/kg of feed) and on day 42 a greater GIT/live weight ratio was observed in the treatment groups, compared to the control group.

Nieto (1999) reports that vinasse stimulates the acidification of the intestinal chyme, to inhibit the growth of pathogenic micro-organisms, thus maintaining the primary intestinal flora and preventing dysbiosis.

Similarly, the liver weight increased with vinasse supplementation (p < 0.05), which may have been due to an increase in its activity. Devewogda et al. (1997) obtained similar results using a product made out of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in broilers. However, Brozca et al. (2000) found no difference in the liver size when they used lactic acid bacteria. García et al. (2007) did not report any differences using a probiotic blend of Lactobacillus acidophillus and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Therefore, the probiotic source used could be decisive in determinations of this indicator.

Hematological indicators (Fig. 1) are a tool to determine the state of health of the animals. In this study hematocrit and hemoglobin values were within physiological ranges reported for this species.

These results are consistent with Martínez et al. (2006), who supplied enzymatic hydrolyzed agents to replacement pullets, reporting no significant differences in the to the levels of hemoglobin among the treatments. Browder (1999) and Patchen (1999), however, determined that bioproducts such as α (1.3) glucans and other mannans have the ability to stimulate the activity of the blood cells, as well as to increase their number.

Figure 1. Effect of vinasse on the hematological indicators of broilers.

Conclusions

- The use of vinasse (0.5%) as a supplement in broiler diet does not affect the morphometry of the different segments of the gastrointestinal tract.

- The effect of vinasse did not modify the hematological values in broilers.

- The use of vinasse as a supplement in the levels indicated is feasible in broiler diets.

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Morphometric study of the gastrointestinal tract of broilers that consumed diets supplemented with vinasse

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