EFFECT OF PARTIALLY REPLACING SOYBEAN MEAL AND SOYBEAN OIL WITH DEHULLED SUNFLOWER SEEDS ON MEAT QUALITY AND OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF BROILERS

Broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus L.) production in Mexico is fundamental for contributing to food security since it is inexpensive and has a high nutritional value. However, given the insufficient national production of ingredients such as soybeans to obtain oil and make balanced foods, it has been necessary to import them, thus increasing the cost of raising broilers. In this context, sunflower seed (Helianthus annuus L.), due to its nutritional makeup, can be used to replace soybean meal and soybean oil in broiler diets. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of partially replacing soybean meal and soybean oil in broilers’ diets with dehulled sunflower seeds on the physicochemical properties, fatty acid profile, and antioxidant capacity of meat. The experimental design was completely randomized: basal diet (sorghum-soybean meal); diet with 5 % sunflower seed and soybean oil; diet with 5 % sunflower seeds without soybean oil; and diet with 10 % sunflower seeds without soybean oil. There was no effect of the diet on the physicochemical characteristics (p > 0.05), but there was an effect on the fatty acid profile, which was better (p ≤ 0.001) in the treatments with sunflower seed, with or without soybean oil. The antioxidant activity in raw and cooked meat decreased after 9 and 6 days of refrigerated storage (p ≤ 0.05), respectively, without diet effect. Therefore, soybean meal can be substituted at 10 %, and soybean oil can be partially or completely replaced by dehulled sunflower seed in broiler diets as long as production parameters are not negatively affected.