Sweet Potato Peel and Fish Meal Blend Fermentation: A Study on Prebiotic Potential and Broiler Chick Performance

Abstract

The increasing demand for poultry products necessitates improved chicken nutrition. Sweet potato peel, a waste product, is rich in nutrients but underutilized. While fermentation enhances nutritional value, its prebiotic potential in broiler chicks remains unclear, leaving a gap in understanding its effects on growth performance and gut health, creating a need to investigate its impact on chicken nutrition. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of fermented sweet potato peel mixed with fish meal as a chicken additive for healthy broiler chicks. The fermenter used in this study was isolated and characterized using standard microbiological techniques. The effects of the fermented feeds on the broiler chicks were determined using in vivo techniques.   The mixture of sweet potato peel and fish meal, fermented by Lactobacillus acidophilus strain DSN20079 (LADSM) was incorporated into the diet of broiler chicks, and its effects on growth performance, organ weights, feed intake, and hematological indices were evaluated. The results showed that the body weights of the chicks in the test group were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those in the control group from week 2 to week 6. The feed conversion ratio of the test group was significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of the control group from week 3 to week 6. The organ weights of the chicks were not affected by the inclusion of the feed additive in the diet. The white blood cell count and lymphocyte percentage were significantly higher (p<0.05) in the test group compared to the control group. The study has shown that the mixture of sweet potato peel and fish meal, fermented by LADSM has potential as a probiotic feed additive for broiler chicks, improving growth performance and blood indices without any adverse effects on organ weights.