PenanikaJ. Trap. Agric. Sci. 24(2): 159 - 164 (2001) ISSN: 1511-3701

© Universiti Putra Malaysia Press

Pyridoxin.e Requirement of Broilers on Fed GuineaCom-PahnKemel Meal Based Diet

R.A OLOYO

. Department of Science Laboratory TechnologyFederal Polytechnic, P.M.B 50, flaro,

Ogun State, Nigeria

Keywords: pyridoxine, broiler chicken, guinea corn, palm kernel meal

ABSTRAK

Uji kaji telah dijalankan bagi memantaphan heperluan piridohsin mahan an salai pada catUa?~yang prahtihal.Lapan humjJUlan yang sama darijjada 25 anah ayam yang dikomersil, diberi mahan inti sawit~jagungberasaskan pemahanan sampinga;~ yang paras piridohsin digred (4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, 7.5 dan 8.0 mg/mahanan) sejah hari yang jJertama hingga ha?i yang he-42. Data penggunaan mahan an, penahanan nut1iendan ciri-ciri harhas menunfuhhan bahawa 6. °mg piridohsin/mahanan adalah heperluan minimum, sedanghan5.5 mg/hg mahanan dipeTluhan bagi mengelak kematia?} dan mengekalkan kepekatan hemoglobin, isi jJadu selterpadat (PVC) dan aktiviti aminotransferas aspartat dt dalam serum dan hati.

ABSTRACT

A t1ial was conducted to establish pyridoxine requirement of broilersfed on jJractical ration, in which 8 duplicategroups of 25 commercial broiler chicks werefed guinea corn-palm kernel meal based diet supplemented with graded

levels ofPy1idoxine (4.5,5.0,5.5,6.0,7.0,7.5 and 8.0 mg/hgfeed) from day-one to 42 days. Data on feedutilisation, nutrient retention and carcass characteristics showed that 6.0mg pyridoxine/kg feed is the minimumrequirement whereas 5.5mg/hg feed was required for prevention of mortality and maintenance of normalhaemoglobin concentration, pached cell volume (PCV) and aspartate aminotransferase activities in serum andliver.

INTRODUCTION

Dietary essentiality of pyridoxine for optimumproductive performance of broilers had beenestablished (ARC 1975). However, because ofits relatively poor bioavailability and varied con­tents in feed ingredients, and also because of itsinvolvement in amino acid metabolism and pro­tein utilisation, estimated requirement figuresvaried widely depending on the type of test dietand the dietary protein content and method ofprocessing of feed ingredients such as soybean,cottonseed and safflower used in the test diets(Whitehead 1982). It seemed therefore that toensure adequate pyridoxine supplement for broil­ers under a practical feeding regime in a partiCll­lar region, it is necessary to establish the bird'srequirement using rations formulated with lo­cally available feed ingredients. Indeed, in Ni­geria, Ogunmodede (1981) had established py-

ridoxine requirement of broilers feed rationbased on groundnut cake (GNC) , which hith­erto was the most commonly used feed proteinsource in the country. In recent times, poultrydiets in the country had undergone drasticchanges in composition due to replacement ofhigh-cost traditional feed protein sources withlower-cost alterm\.tives. In this regard, the use ofpalm kernel meal (PKM) in lieu of GNC isgaining popularity as an alternative, which offersa significant protein cost advantage in broilerrations. However, information on the pyridox­ine demand of broilers fed PKM based ration is

lacking.The objective of this study was to establish

pyridoxine supplement required for optimumperformance of broilers, fed guinea corn-PIZMbased diet. Guinea corn was included in the

ration because it is a major feed energy sourcein broiler rations in Nigeria.

R.A OLOYO

* vitamin/mineral premix supplied the following vitaminand minerals per kg of.feed: 1200 IV Vie A; 2500 IU VitD; 10 IV Vit E; 1.5 mg Menadione sodium bisulphite; 2.5mg Vir. Bl; 5 mg Vir. 52; 500 mg Choline chloride; 10mg Calcium d-panthothenate; 35 mg Nicotinic acid; 0.02I11gVie B12; 0.16 I11gBiotin; 1 mg Folic asid; 50 I11giron;150 mg Manganese; 2.5 mg cooper; 45 mg zinc; 0.2 I11g

Cobalt; O.O~ mg Selenium; 1.4 mg Iodine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Duplicate groups of day-old commercial broilerwith 25 chicks per group were given a basalpractical diet based on guinea corn-PI\.M (Table1). On the whole, 400 day-old chicks were usedin this study. The diet was supplemented withpyridoxine to achieve graded levels of 4.5, 5.0,5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 and 8.0 mg pyridoxine/kgfeed. Pyridoxine content of basel diet was esti­mated (Association of Vitamin Chemists Inc.1966) prior to vitamin supplementation. Thechicks were housed in deep litter pens, each of5.5m2 floor area and containing dry wood shav­ings litter, two 4-litre plastic drinkers, a throughfeeder and a 200-W tungsten filament lamp.Birds were maintained on the respective dietarytreatments for a period of 42 days during whichthey had free access to feed and water androutine vaccinations were administered. Feed

intake, body weight gain and feed efficiencywere recorded on a weekly basis. Birds wereobserved regularly for clinical signs of anaemiaand symptoms of pyridoxine deficiency in the

TABLE 1

Composition of the basal diet

Constituent

Guinea cornPalm kernel mealBlood mealFish meal

Brewer's grainPalm kernel oil

Vitamin/mineral premix*Oyster shellBone meal

L-LysineDL-MethionineNaClTOTAL

Chemical analysisCrude protein (%) .Crude fat (%)Gross energy (Kca1jkg)Pyridoxine (mg/kg)

g/kg

500

200

6745

125

201

1020

552

1000

21.2

4.23068.6

4.02

chickens (Gries and. Scott 1972). All birds thatdied were sent to the Veterinary Clinic of theState's Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Re­sources for post mortem examination. Mortalitydue to pyridoxine deficiency was recorded.

In the last three weeks of experimentation,metabolic studies were conducted with four rep­licate samples of birds randomly selected fromthe respective treatment groups at the begin­ning' of the fourth week. The birds were housedin single-bird cages, 400 x 300 rnm, with wirefloors allowing for separate collection of ex­creta. The cages had individual feed and watertroughs. In accordance with the total collectionprocedure, excreta samples were collected dailyfrom each treatment group on 14 successivedays during the fifth and sixth week for nutrientanalysis. Feed and excreta were analysed for

i nitrogen and lipid (AOAC 1980). Gross energy. values were determined using the Ballistic bomb

calorimeter and apparent metabolizable energyvalues of the diets were calculated. Apparentretention of nitrogen and lipid were calculatedas the difference between the amount of the

constituent in the diet and excreta samples col­lected (Oloyo 1997).

At the end of the feeding trial, four repli­cate samples of birds were selected random.lyfrom the respective treatment groups in thefloor pens for blood collection and subsequentslaughtering. Blood samples were taken fromthe wing veins of each bird and kept for meas­urement of haemoglobin content and packedcell volume, PCV (Lamb 1981) and aspartateaminotransferase (L-aspartate: 2-oxoglutarateaminotro-ansferase' [EC 2.6.1]) activity (Reitmanand Frankel 1957). Selected bJrds were killed bycervical dislocation, the livers were removed forthe measurement of asparate aminotransferaseactivity (Tonhazy et at. 1950) and were dressedfor carcass characteristics evaluation (Oloyo andOgunmodec1e 1990).

Results obtained in the trial were subjectedto analysis of variance (Steel and Torrie 1960),and differences between treatment means were

tested using the multiple range test of Duncan(1955).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Results of feed utilisation (Table 2) indicated

. that groups of birds that received from 4.5 to 5.5pyridoxine/kg feed consumed less feed, gainedless body weight and' had poorer efficiency of .

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160 PERTANIKAJ. TRap. AGIUC. seI. VOL. 2'1 NO.2, 2001

PYRIDOXINE REQUIREMENT OF BROILERS ON FED GUINEA CORN-PALM KERNEL MEAL BASED DIET

* Values in a column bearing different superscriptsare significantly (P<O.05) different.

** SEM, Standard error of the mean

TABLE 3

Effect of dietary pyridoxine on aspartate ami­notransferase activities in serum and livers of

experimen tal broiler chickens

4.5 118c*243

5.0

121bc239b

5.5

172a396a

6.0

174a314a

6.5

182a311a

7.0

177a309a

7.5

176a316a

8.0

178a312a

±SEM**

12.4216.10

energy (Table 2). This result is in agreementwith the findings of earlier reports that defi­ciency of pyridoxine led to an impairment ofthe utilisation of protein (Fuller 1964) and lipid(OgL'lnodede 1981). The results of the presentstudy indicated that supplementation of the diet'with vitamins up to 6.0 mg/kg seemed adequatefor optimum utilisation of the nutrients.

The importance of producing carcass ofdesirable quality in the economics of broilerproduction underline the need for the assess­ment of carcass characteristics of experimentalchickens. Information is however lacking on thepyridoxine requirement for broiler carcass char­acteristics evaluated in this study. The results inTable 4 indicate that good carcass characteristicsrequire pyridoxine as evident from the signifi­cant dietary treatment effect on the parameters.It appears that while supplementation of thepractical guinea corn-PI\.M diet with pyridoxineup to 5.5 mg/kg seemed inadequate for carcassweight, total edible meat weight, total boneweight and meat: bone ratio, it was marginal fordressing percentage and meat and bone ex­pressed as proportions of carcass weight.

Variations in the amounts of pyridoxinerequired by experimental broiler chicken forproductive performance (i.e., feed utilisation,nutrient retention and carcass quality), health(mortality, haemoglobin concentration and PCV)and enzyme activities (aspartate transaminase

Aspartateaminotransferase activity inSerum -liver (units/mg

(units/cm~) dry tissue)

Pyridoxine(mg/kg feed)

.feed conversion than those given 6.0 - 8.0 mg ofthe vitamin per kg of feed. Poorer feed con­sumption observed in birds given 4.5 - 5.5 mgpyridoxine/kg feed might be due to inability ofthe birds to move freely because anaemic condi­tions set in making them sluggish and easilyfatigued. Results from this study tend to showthat 6.0mg pyridoxine /kg was the lowest dietarylevel required for optimum feed intake andgrowth rate.

Starvation, a consequence of depressed ap­petite was believed to be the cause of death inpyridoxine-deficient chickens (Gries and Scott1972). Indeed, mortality due to pyridoxine (ARC1975) recorded in the present study was notedamong groups of birds fed 4.5 - 5.0 mg pyridox­ine/kg (Table 2). In addition these groups con­sumed significantly less feed. Trembling fits andconvulsions preceded death in:most cases. Post­mortem examination indicated gizzard erosionand haemorrhagic patches around the folliclesof the wing feathers.

Pyridoxine-deficient chicken became anae­mic due to a failure in the normal mechanism of

haemoglobin synthesis (Scott et al. 1982) andshowed marked reduction in plasma proteinsand in aspartate aminotransferase activities inserum and liver (Kirchgessner and Maier 1968;Ogunmodede 1981) and Cheney et al. (1965)

concluded that serum transaminase activity is asensitive indicator of pyridoxine status. In sup­port of earlier reports, the results of the presentstudy indicated that birds fed 4.5-5.0 pyrodoxine/kg feed developed anaemic condition as indi­cated by having lower haemoglobin concentra­tion and PCV than those given higher dietarypyridoxine levels (Table 2). In the case ofei1Zymeactivities in birds (Table 3), there wasmarked reduction in aspartate aPlinotransferaseactivity in serum and livers of groups of birdsgiven 4.5 - 5.0 mg pyridoxine/kg feed thanthose fed higher dietary levels of the vitamin.The results of mortality, haemoglobin concen­tration, PCV and transaminase activities in se­rum and livers appeared to suggest that guineacorn-PEM diet should be supplemented withpyridoxine up to 5.5 mg per kg of feed forpromotion of good health in broiler chicken.

Apparent nutrient retention in experimen­tal broilers was signficantly affected by the di­etary treatments where higher dietary levels ofpyridoxine in the diet resulted in remarkableutilisation of nitrogen, lipid and metabolizable

PERTANIKAj. TROP. AGRIC. SCI. VOL. 24 NO, 2,2001 161

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TABLE 2

Feed utilisation, health performance and nutrient retention of broilers fed guinea com-PKMbased diet with supplementation of pyridoxine at 42 daysParameter

Pyridoxine (mg/kg feed)

4.5

5.05.56.06.57.07.58.0SEM**

Feed utilisation: Live weigh at 42 days (g)

914.4c"976.4bc1053.0bc1313.4"1300.8'1316.6"1351.2"1330.2'84.66

Daily weight gain (g/bird)

20.7b22.2b24.0b30.2"29.9'30.3'31.1"30.6'2.01

Daily feed intake (g/bird)

81.8b83.5b87.8b98.6'100.6'101.8"103.5'101.2'4.18

Feed efficiency (g gain/g feed)

0.25b0.27b0.27b0.31 "0.30'0.30'0.30'0.30"9.92E-03

Health peifonnanceMortality (%)

5.00'2050bococococDcoc1.23

Haemoglobin (g/100cm3)

2.90c4.76b7.89'8.20'8.24'8.15'8.10"8.32"0.97

PCV (%)

7.2c12.8b27.4'28.1'28.0'27.6"27.8'28.2"3.93

Nutrient retention Nitrogen retention (%)

54.6b55.2b56.5b62.9'62.08'63.2'64.1"63.7a1.94 ::v

Lipid retention (%)69.2c74.Jh80.8,b83.1"82.9'83.7"83.4"83.8"2.56 >-

Metabolizable energy (Kcal/kg)

2750.2b2755.0b2784.4b2849.1"2843.5'2836.2"2843.6'2832.8'20.89 0t"0* Values in a row bearing different superscripts are significantly (P,O.05) different ij

** SEM, Standard error of the mean

TABLE 4

Carcass characteristics of broilers fed guinea com-PKM diet and graded levels of pyridoxine at 42 days

Parameter Pyridoxine (mg/kg feed)

4.5

5.05.56.06.57.07.58.0SEM**

Carcass weight (g)

567.84b"603.42b688.66b895.74'898.85'916.35'929.63"911.19"72.15

Dressing percentage

62.1b61.Sb65.4'6S.2"69.1"69.6"68.8'68.5"1.49

Total edible meat (g)

359.44b378.95b442.12b595.67'599.53'617.62'615.42"611.41"53.13

Meat (% carcass weight)

63.3b62.8b62.4"b66.5'66.7'67.4"66.2"67.1"0.85

Total bone (g)

208.40b224.47b246.54b300.07"299.32"298.73"314.21"299.78'19.14

Bone (% carcass weight)

36.7"37.2"35.8"b33.5b33.3b32.6b33.8b32.9b0.S5Meat: bone ratio

1.72b1.69b1.79b1.99'2.00"2.07"1.96"2.04"0.07

*Values in a row bearing different superscripts are significantly (P<O.05)

*~, SEM, Standard error of the mean

PYRlDOXINE REQUIREMENT OF BROILERS ON FED GUINEA CORN-PALM KERNEL MEAL BASED DIET

CHENEY,M.C., D.M. CURRYand G.B DEATON.1965.Blood transaminase activities in vitamin B6

deficiency. Canadian Journal of PhysiologyPhar­macology 4: 579-589.

DUNCAN,D.B. 1995. Multiple range and multipleF test. Biometrics 11: 1-42.

BABATUNDE,G.M., B.L. FETUGA,O. OmJMOSUandV.A. OYENUGA.1975. Palm kernel meal as a

major protein concentrate in the diets ofpigs in the tropics. Journal of Science of Foodand Agriculture 26: 1279-1291.

BEST, P. 1993. Ingredients for Broiler Diets:Choose wheat by its fibre fraction? Feed Inter­national. December 1993. A Watt Publica­tion.

GRIES,C.L and M.L. SCOTT.1972. The pathologyof pyridoxine deficiency in chicks. Journal ofNutrition 102: 1259-1268.

KlRCHGESSNER,M. and D.A MAIER. 1968. Zu

Bestimung des Vitamin B6 bedarfs vonGeflug. Archiv fur 'Tierenalwung 18: 300-308.

LAMB.G.M 1981. Man'ual of l1eterinary LaboratoryTechniques. Kenya, CIBA-Geigy.

NELSON,T.S., E.L. STEPHENSON,A. BURGOS,J PLOYDandJO YORK.1975. Effect of tannin contentand dry matter digestion on energy utilisa­tion and average amino acid availability inhybird sorghum grains. Poultry Science 54:1620-1623.

REFERENCES

AOAc. 1980. Official Methods of Analysis. 13lh edn.

Association of Official All all' tical Chemists.Washington DC.

ANON.1975. The Nutrient Requirements of FarmLivestock. NO.1 Agricultural. Research Coun­cil Poultry. London.

ANON. 1966. Methods of Vitamin Assay. 3rd edn.Association of Vitamin Chemists Inc. New

York: NY Interscience Publishers.

ANON. 1994. Nutrient Requirement of POUlt1). 9lh

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FULLER,B.L. 1964. Vitamin B6 in farm animalnutrition and pets. l1itamins and Hormones22: 659-676.

actlVltIeS in serum and livers) might be due todifferences in the sensitivities of the parameters

to the pyridoxine status of the birds. Indeed,Whitehead (1982) reported that the first effectof vitamin deficiency is a retardation of perform­ance; lesions and death only occur when thedeficiency is more severe or prolonged. Thushealth is generally less sensitive than productiveperformance as an indicator of requirement. Itwas also noted that enzyme activity as criterionof establishing vitamin requirement is not clearcut because some enzyme activities may not beoptimal with vitamin intake adequate forproductive purposes. Nutrient retention, on theother hand, was considered highly valid since itis linked with ultimate objective of feeding thechicken.

From the foregoing, it may be concludedthat for optimum performance, broilers requireat least 6.0 mg pyridoxine per kg of guinea cornPKM based diet. The achieved requirement esti­mate of the vitamin for broilers in the presentstudy falls within the range or requirement val­ues recommended earlier i.e. 1.2 - 7.3 mg/kg(Ogunmodede 1981, Whitehead 1982; NRC1994). Variations in the earlier reported re­quirement estimates have been attributed to theinvolvemen t of pyridoxine in protein metabo­lism and the sources of dietary protein. Soybean,cottonseed, safflower and ground nut were themain protein sources in the various test diets inearlier studies on which requirement estimateswere based. All the protein sources exceptsoybean differ in their amino acid profiles fromPKM, the plant protein source in the presentstudy. Futhermore, higher dietary fibre contentof PKM suppressed hydrolysis of its protein andconsequently caused reduction in the bioavai­lability of its amino acids (Babatunde et al. 1975;Nwokolo et al. 1977). In addition, Best (1993)

noted that dietary fibre affected the functioningof the gut microflora with consequent alterationof micronutrient requirement of birds. Dietaryprotein contributed by guinea corn, the majorenergy source in the diet, is also characterisedby poor digestibility and reduced bioavailabilityof its amino acids (Nelson et al. 1975) whichmight have influenced the estimated pyridoxinerequirement of broilers in this study.

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try. Information Service. Basle Hoffmann-La.Roche.

(Received: 29 June 2000)

(Accepted: 31 May 2001)

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164 PERTANII<AJ. TROP. ACRIC. SCI. VOL. 24 NO.2, 2001