Black tuna meal in chicken diets to increase eicosapentanoic and docosahexaenoic acids

ABSTRACT The objective was to determine the effect of black tuna meal (BTM) at different concentrations and time of addition, in chicken diets on production variables, quality, and concentration of fatty acids in eggs and sensory evaluation. A 3 x 4 factorial design was used. Increasing the concentration of BTM modified the production variables. The cholesterol level was higher with 3% of BTM, the total lipids were increased at the time, the highest level was the control and the lowest with 3%, the Decosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was greater than 3% of BTM, the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) did not obtain differences, arachidonic acid (AA) and linoleic acid (LA) showed their lowest values with 2% of BTM. As for the sensory evaluation, color, smell, and taste were well accepted. Therefore, it is concluded that BTM can be used to enrich the nutritional values of the bird´s diet.