Phytic acid reduction in canola and camelina meals by fungal fermentation for potential broiler feeding

Abstract

Canola and camelina meals have been identified as alternative plant protein sources in place of soybean meal for animal feeding. The use of these protein sources at high inclusion levels is limited due to the presence of antinutritional factors such as phytic acid, glucosinolates, erucic acid, sinapines and tannins which have negative effects on production performance of broiler chickens (Thacker and Widyaratne, 2012). Solid state fermentation is a preferred method for enriching agroindustrial residues since it offers several economical and practical benefits (Vig and Walia, 2001). Reports on the chemical composition of solid state fermented canola and camelina meals, and effects of fermented canola and camelina meals on nutrient digestibility and other performance parameters in broiler chickens are limited. In a preliminary study, solid state fermentation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae was conducted with the aim of reducing phytic acid contents in canola and camelina meals. The effect of length of incubation on phytic acid content was investigated. pH of the experimental samples initially reduced between day 0 to 3 and slightly increased between day 3 to 7. The fermentation process reduced phytic acid concentration by 25.7% (from 37.4 to 27.8 mg PA/g) in canola meal and 33.7% (from 36.8 to 24.4 mg PA/g) in camelina meal after 7 days of incubation.