Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding

A strategy to improve poultry meat production sustainability is the use of by-products from agro-industries, such as cardoon cake (CC). Due to limited literature available, this trial aimed to study the effect of CC as an alternative protein source to soybean meal (SM) or insect meal (black soldier...

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Main Authors: Federica Mannelli, Federica Scicutella, Giuseppe Conte, Matteo Daghio, Carlo Viti, Ilaria Galigani, Elisabetta Toni, Alessandra Miele, Giovanni Brajon, Lapo Nannucci, Arianna Buccioni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Italian Journal of Animal Science
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2503395
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author Federica Mannelli
Federica Scicutella
Giuseppe Conte
Matteo Daghio
Carlo Viti
Ilaria Galigani
Elisabetta Toni
Alessandra Miele
Giovanni Brajon
Lapo Nannucci
Arianna Buccioni
author_facet Federica Mannelli
Federica Scicutella
Giuseppe Conte
Matteo Daghio
Carlo Viti
Ilaria Galigani
Elisabetta Toni
Alessandra Miele
Giovanni Brajon
Lapo Nannucci
Arianna Buccioni
author_sort Federica Mannelli
collection DOAJ
description A strategy to improve poultry meat production sustainability is the use of by-products from agro-industries, such as cardoon cake (CC). Due to limited literature available, this trial aimed to study the effect of CC as an alternative protein source to soybean meal (SM) or insect meal (black soldier fly, Hermaetia illucens) on broilers’ performance, welfare, and meat quality. Eighty day-old chickens were allocated into 4 dietary treatments composed of 5 replicated pens (4 animals per pen): control group (C) fed a basal diet with SM as main protein source; HI15 group fed C with 15% of SM replaced with H. illucens meal; CC15 group fed C with 15% SM replaced with CC; CC20 group fed C with 20% of SM replaced with CC. In the starter period, chicks from CC15 showed similar trends in weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) to the C group; FCR was also comparable to that in HI15, but FI was lower with respect to HI15. In the finisher period, WG in CC15 and CC20 groups did not differ from the C and HI15 groups, but the FCR worsened with respect to C whilst remaining comparable to HI15. The meat fatty acid profile from animals fed CC was rich in oleic acid. Bifidobacterium was detected in the CC20 group only, which also showed significantly lower relative abundance of Bacteroides, Monoglobus, UCG-009, Colidextribacter, and NK4A214_group, and significantly higher relative abundance of Latilactobacillus. These results show that CC can be used for broilers feeding.
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spelling doaj-art-bd49ffee07b04e7ea89c2fc46c4f60d32025-08-20T02:30:05ZengTaylor & Francis GroupItalian Journal of Animal Science1594-40771828-051X2025-12-012411211122310.1080/1828051X.2025.25033952503395Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feedingFederica Mannelli0Federica Scicutella1Giuseppe Conte2Matteo Daghio3Carlo Viti4Ilaria Galigani5Elisabetta Toni6Alessandra Miele7Giovanni Brajon8Lapo Nannucci9Arianna Buccioni10Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali, University of PisaDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceIstituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana ‘M. Aleandri’Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceDipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali, University of FlorenceA strategy to improve poultry meat production sustainability is the use of by-products from agro-industries, such as cardoon cake (CC). Due to limited literature available, this trial aimed to study the effect of CC as an alternative protein source to soybean meal (SM) or insect meal (black soldier fly, Hermaetia illucens) on broilers’ performance, welfare, and meat quality. Eighty day-old chickens were allocated into 4 dietary treatments composed of 5 replicated pens (4 animals per pen): control group (C) fed a basal diet with SM as main protein source; HI15 group fed C with 15% of SM replaced with H. illucens meal; CC15 group fed C with 15% SM replaced with CC; CC20 group fed C with 20% of SM replaced with CC. In the starter period, chicks from CC15 showed similar trends in weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) to the C group; FCR was also comparable to that in HI15, but FI was lower with respect to HI15. In the finisher period, WG in CC15 and CC20 groups did not differ from the C and HI15 groups, but the FCR worsened with respect to C whilst remaining comparable to HI15. The meat fatty acid profile from animals fed CC was rich in oleic acid. Bifidobacterium was detected in the CC20 group only, which also showed significantly lower relative abundance of Bacteroides, Monoglobus, UCG-009, Colidextribacter, and NK4A214_group, and significantly higher relative abundance of Latilactobacillus. These results show that CC can be used for broilers feeding.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2503395poultry feedingsoybean mealcardoon mealsustainabilitygut microbiota
spellingShingle Federica Mannelli
Federica Scicutella
Giuseppe Conte
Matteo Daghio
Carlo Viti
Ilaria Galigani
Elisabetta Toni
Alessandra Miele
Giovanni Brajon
Lapo Nannucci
Arianna Buccioni
Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
Italian Journal of Animal Science
poultry feeding
soybean meal
cardoon meal
sustainability
gut microbiota
title Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
title_full Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
title_fullStr Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
title_full_unstemmed Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
title_short Cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
title_sort cardoon cake as a sustainable alternative ingredient in broiler feeding
topic poultry feeding
soybean meal
cardoon meal
sustainability
gut microbiota
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2503395
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AT giuseppeconte cardooncakeasasustainablealternativeingredientinbroilerfeeding
AT matteodaghio cardooncakeasasustainablealternativeingredientinbroilerfeeding
AT carloviti cardooncakeasasustainablealternativeingredientinbroilerfeeding
AT ilariagaligani cardooncakeasasustainablealternativeingredientinbroilerfeeding
AT elisabettatoni cardooncakeasasustainablealternativeingredientinbroilerfeeding
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