Cassava as a surrogate for corn – how high can we go in broiler diets?

Dr. David Akinde

Fusion Biosystems GmbH, Lohne Germany

2 2A typical broiler diet

Feed cost

energy cost protein cost residual•Feed is 65 to 70%

of expenditure

•Driven by energy

and protein

•Corn preferred for

human

consumption and

ethanol industry.

•Wheat or barleydiets suffer reduced

DM, CP, and ME

digestibility,

lowering BW

gain/fcr

Structure of feed cost in broiler feeding

• Can we progress from energy grains?

3 3

Cassava –Manihot esculenta

•most important rootcrop in the tropics•Recent increasedtrade in cassava: flour, chips•High in starch(61 – 72 %)•starch digestibility > corn starch, being > in amylopectin (Gomes et al., 2005).

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Major cassava feed ingredients

WHOLE ROOTS

• Normally fed to cattle and pigs, either raw or boiled. However, fresh tubers may cause cyanide toxicity, depending on the cyanide content in the tubers. For use in poultry, the moisture level is the key.

CHIPS

• Chopped and sun-dried cassava for application in alcohol and animal feed production. Extensively produced in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Nigeria. The fresh roots are machine sliced into small pieces and sun-dried for 2-3 days. Export specifications are 65% (minimum) starch, 5% (maximum) fibre, 3% (maximum) soil & silica contaminants and moisture ≤14%.

PELLETS

• Are obtained from dried cassava chips passed through pellet machines. Cassava pellets enhance animal performance, reduce pollution, are less bulky, and so transportation cost is lower.

MEAL

• is the powdered residue of chips and roots from extraction of edible starch. Thus quality is inferior and has lower starch content. In Africa, cassava meal is produced from the whole root, which may be peeled or unpeeled. This meal is higher in starch compared to meals produced in Asia where cassava is mainly used for starch production.

Mathur et al., 1969; Philips, 1974; Balagopalan, 2002; Chauynarong et al., 2009

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11,0

11,5

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16,0

Me

tab

olis

able

en

erg

y co

nce

ntr

atio

n, M

J/kg

DM

Wheat Barley Triticale Rye Corn Cassava

Metabolisable energy concentration

The Feed Directory

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Crude protein level

0,0

2,0

4,0

6,0

8,0

10,0

12,0

14,0

16,0

cru

de

pro

tein

leve

l, g

/kg

DM

Corn Wheat Barley Triticale Rye Cassava

The Feed Directory

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Crude fiber

The Feed Directory

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Corn Wheat Barley Tritical Rye Cassava

% D

M

8 8

Amino acid level

0,00,51,01,52,02,53,03,54,0

g/k

g a

ir d

ry

corn cassava

•cassava is almost bereft of N•corn supplies 25 – 30% dietary CP •Cassava protein is higher in Lys, thr, arg, val but lower in met, cys, ile, leu, his, phe, & gly

Values obtained by Fusion Biosystems GmbH, Lohne

9

Traditional inclusion levels of cassava and major ingredients in Holland and UK, g/kg

Sources: Wood, 1992; Tewe 2004

Broiler Layer Finisher pigs

Holland UK Holland UK Holland UK

Cereals 220 690 70 600 - 540

Cereals-byproducts - 10 150 70 180 90

Proteins/AA 480 250 420 240 365 310

Cassava 205 - 245 - 370 -

Oil & fat 75 40 30 10 25 20

Others 20 10 85 100 60 40

• Mostly below 40% of diet in Netherlands

• Is this theoptimum?

• Can we gohigher?

10 10

Challenges with cassava

Linamarin

Lotaustralin

H―C≡NHydrolyzed to CN

under alkaline conditions of the small intestine

11 11

Liver mitochondrial rhodanase is

able to detoxify HCN to SCN using

sulfhydryl group (SH) sulphur (from

methionine/cysteine). Arising

thiocyanate is then excreted

through the urine.

Methionine is involved in

detoxification primarily because its

SH possesses affinity for charged

toxicants.

Illustration of the hypothesis that free methionine may lessen the toxicity of high cassava diets, to upgrade the nutritive value of cassava to that of corn

Friedmann, 1994; Rosling, 1994

sulfur + HCN SCN-

rhodanese

Kidney

12

Dietary layout

Objectives 3 × 5 factorial

Cassava chips

(g/kg corn in

standard diet)

DL-Methionine

(g/kg)

0 1 2

0 T1 T6 T11

250 T2 T7 T12

500 T3 T8 T13

750 T4 T9 T14

1000 T5 T10 T15

To study effect of graded

ingestion of cassava chips

in starters/finishers

To characterise the role of

methionine

supplementation at different

inclusion levels of cassava

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Table 7: Chemical composition of cassava chips

Parameters Cassava Chips

Moisture (%) 8.77±0.2

Crude protein (%) 1.10±0.0

Crude fat (%) 0.70±0.0

Ash (%) 2.21±0.1

Crude fibre (% ) 1.81±0.04

Metabolisable Energy (Kcal/kg) 3033.0 ±33

Free Hydrogen Cyanide (mg/kg) 20.2±0.1

Total Hydrogen Cyanide (mg/kg) 377 ±0.1

Aflatoxin (ppb) 5.5±0.1

• Proximate analysis (AOAC,1995)

• HCN determination (Chhay-Ty et al., 2007)

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Basal composition of the experimental diets (g/100g DM)

Feed ingredients Starter Finisher

Maize 59.00 59.00

Cassava Chips 0.00 0.00

Soyabean Cake 36.00 30.00

Wheat Bran 2.00 7.00

Calcium carbonate 1.00 1.00

Salt 0.22 0.22

Enzyme complex 0.03 0.03

Di-Calcium Phosphate 1.50 1.50

Vitamin-Mineral Premix 0.25 0.25

DL-Methionine 0.00 0.00

Toxin Binder 1.00 1.00

Total (Kg) 100.00 100.00

Calculated Nutrients

Lysine (%) 1.21 0.98

Methionine (%) 0.41 0.35

Calcium (%) 1.20 1.00

Available Phosphorus (%) 0.50 0.40

Crude Protein (%) 22.44 20.59

ME (Kcal/kg) 3224.06 3000.06

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RESULTS

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BW gain in 28 d broilers fed incremental levels of cassava chips at varying dosages of free methionine

The effects of CC, methionine and their interaction were highly significant (P < 0.001). unsupplementedCC was similar between 25 to 100 % of corn replacement (P >0.05).1 or 2 kg DL-Met restored BW gain back to that of all corn basal diet.

ab c cd cd cdab b abc ab abca ab ad abc

-100

100

300

500

700

900

0 25 50 75 100Ave

rage

BW

gai

n (

g/ 2

8 d

)

Dietary cassava level (% of corn inclusion)

Met 0 g/kg Met 1 g/kg Met 2 g/kg

17 17

Feed conversion ratio in 28 d broiler starters fed varying levels of cassava chips and supplemental methionine

d c b cd bd cd cd bc cdd cd d a cd

0.00.30.60.91.21.51.82.12.42.7

0 25 50 75 100

fcr

in 2

8 d

bro

ile

rs

Dietary cassava level (% of corn inclusion)

Met 0 g/kg Met 1 g/kg Met 2 g/kg

18

0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0

1 2 0 0

1 4 0 0

1 6 0 0

1 8 0 0

2 0 0 0

2 2 0 0

2 4 0 00 g / k g 1 g / k g 2 g / k g D L - M e t h i o n i n e

( s e e a b s t r a c t f o r p a r a m e t e r f i t s )

C a s s a v a c h i p s , g / k g d i e t a r y c o r n i n c l u s i o n

BW

g

ain

,

g/

56

d

0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 0 0 8 0 0 1 0 0 0

1 . 5

2 . 0

2 . 5

3 . 0

3 . 5

4 . 0

C a s s a v a c h i p s , g / k g d i e t a r y c o r n i n c l u s i o n

FC

R,

5

6

d

Akinde and Etop, 2017

unsupplemented

CC was similar

between 250 to

1000 g/kg corn (P

> 0.05).

1 kg DL-Met

restored BW gain

back to all corn

basal diet.

Except at 250

and 500 g/kg CC,

2 g/kg DL-met

was toxic

Effects of methionine supplementation in 56 day broilers at varying levels of

cassava chips

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0 200 400 600 800 1000

550

850

1150

1450

1750

2050

starting broilers

finishing broilers

If X cassava tolerance,

y 28 d = 587 - 0.6 (384 - X)2; else, y = 587; r2: 99.9; Sy.x: 4.7

y 56 d = 1422 - 0.9(582 - X)2; else, y = 1422; r2: 94.7; Sy.x: 79

Cassava (g/kg of corn inclusion)

28 o

r 56 d

BW

gain

(g/b

ird)

tolerance

for cassava

inclusion

was

1000 - 384 or

1000 - 582

g/kg of corn

in starting or

finishing

broilers

Starter diets can

use more

cassava than

finisher diets- the

reason being the

higher protein and

methionine levels

in the former than

the later

Broken line response to cassava chips inclusion

levels in starting or finishing broilers

20 20

0 20 40 60 80 100

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 g/kg DL-Met

1 g/kg DL-Met

2 g/kg DL-Met

y 0 g/kg DL-Met = 4.1 + 0.06x - 0.0005x2

r2: 0.56; sy.x: 0.8

y 1 g/kg DL-Met = 5.5 + 0.009x - 0.0003x2

r2: 0.56; sy.x: 1.8

y 2 g/kg DL-Met = 5.6 - 0.03x + 0.0004x2

r2: 0.25; sy.x: 1.8

Cassava (% of corn inclusion)

seru

m th

iocy

anat

e

(SC

N, µ

g/m

L)

Serum thiocyanate responded to free 1 g/kg methionine

Significant CN-detoxification

to SCN occurred as CC dominated the

diet, in the presence of 1 g/kg DL-Met.

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Neither cassava nor methionine supplementation

affected meat organoleptic traits

Flavour

TendernessTexture

Juiciness Colour

Acceptability

0.10

0.30

0.50

0.70

0.90

1.10

0 2 4 6 8

An

ova

Sig

nif

ican

cele

vels

Organoleptic traits

Probility levels were > 0.05, suggesting no effect of treatment

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Bone chemistry

37.0

38.0

39.0

40.0

41.0

42.0

43.0

CC 0 CC 25 CC 50 CC 75 CC 100

Bo

ne a

sh

co

nte

nt,

g

CC 0 CC 25 CC 50 CC 75 CC 100

ab a a b ab

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Reported cassava studies in broilers

Investigators Cassava Type Age Concluded replacement value for corn

Panigrahi et al. (1992) root meal

• cassava root meal with a total cyanide

content less than 40 mg/kg, can be fed to broiler chicks at 500 g/kg without

any adverse effects

Panigrahi (1996)• low-cyanide cassava root meals may be incorporated in nutritionally-

balanced poultry diets between 500 and 600 g/kg without any reduction in

weight gain or egg production.

Panigrahi (1996) • Cyanide content at 100 mg/kg diet adversely affects broiler performance,

while threshold level in laying hens is as low as 25 mg total cyanide/kg diet.

Carrijo et al. (2010) root meal 1 – 84 d• 45% inclusion will not reduce performance, carcass and cuts

• Cassava was also beneficial to abdominal fat accretion

Boonsinchaia et al. (2016) pellets 1 – 42 d

cassava could substitute corn at the level of 50% without impairing any

variables. The diets they used contained 22 % CP diets, iso energetic

Lys, Met, Thr & Trp balancing

Brum et al. (1990) Root meal • up to 660 g/kg cassava meal can be used without compromising growth

Bhuiyan and Iji (2015)It is possible to close to 50% of the diet using supplementation of enzyme

products containing carbohydrases, protease, and phytase

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Conclusions – unsupplemented cassava cannot fully replace corn

under the study conditions.

– free methionine is efficacious to upgrade cassava fully to the nutritive status of corn under the study conditions.

– A value of 1 g/kg DL-Met was determined as optimum in this research

– Further studies are needed to clarify why the efficacy of a 2 g/kg DL-Met faded at cassava level beyond 50% of the corn inclusion level

Thanks for your attention