DIETAS SUPLEMENTADAS COM ÁCIDO BUTÍRICO MICROENCAPSULADO E SUA INFLUÊNCIA NA QUALIDADE DE CARNE DE FRANGOS DE CORTE

Objective of this study was to evaluate the meat quality of broilers fed with feed containing microencapsulated butyric acid as an alternative to antimicrobials. A total of 1.200 male Ross® broiler chicks. The birds were submitted to experimental treatments: positive control (PC) - basal diet (BD) + antibiotic; negative control (NC) - BD; 0.10 - BD + 0.10% microencapsulated butyric acid (MBA); 0.15 - BD + 0.15% MBA; 0.20 - BD + 0.20% MBA. The variables analysed were: colour, pH, water-holding capacity (WHC), cooking weight loss (CWL) and shear force (SF). Data analysis was performed using of Minitab® statistical software. The variables colour, pH, CWL and SF were not observed as differences between treatments. The results for WHC were quadratic. It is concluded that the MBA can replace the antibiotic because it does not affect the quality of the meat. However, it is suggested to include up to 0.10% of MBA because above this inclusion the WHC decreases negatively influencing the meat's.