Caracterização do óleo de pracaxi e sua inclusão em dietas de codornas japonesas

Abstract

Due to the need to investigate new products that can be explored as performance modulators that can be used as zootechnical additives, phytotherapics are an excellent option, since these products have a wealth of bioactive compounds, combined with the fact that our country has a rich unexplored flora, such as pracaxi (Pentaclethra macroloba). In this sense, it sought to evaluate this little explored product, pracaxi oil. Evaluations were carried out on the fatty acid profile of the oil in question by means of gas chromatography, to evaluate the antioxidant capacity, DDPH, FRAP and ABTS tests were carried out and the composition of the phenolic compounds was determined by specific reagents. To understand a possible toxic potential of the product, the subchronic oral toxicity was evaluated, using 40 albino Wistar rats, submitted to the evaluations described by the OECD manual (Guide 407). To investigate the effects of the inclusion of pracaxi oil on the diet of quails, productivity, egg quality, digestibility, organ biometry and fatty acid deposition in egg yolks were evaluated in 175 Japanese quails, in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments (T1: control 0% inclusion; T2: 0.045% inclusion of pracaxi oil; T3: 0.090% inclusion of pracaxi; T4: 0.180% inclusion of pracaxi oil; T5: 0.360% inclusion of pracaxi oil) .7 repetitions with 5 animals each for two periods of 28 days. The analytical results showed that the oil under analysis has different fatty acids in its chemical composition: oleic, linoleic, arachidic and behenic acid, which are responsible for more than 90% of the composition. In a lower percentage, lauric (0.17%), myristic (0.09%), palmitic (1.49%), stearic (3.45%) and linolenic (1.39%) acids were found. According to the results generated by the antioxidant tests, it can be concluded that pracaxi oil has a high antioxidant capacity, and is a product with a high composition of phenolic compounds. Regarding the toxicity assessment, no changes were observed in clinical signs and organ weight, however, in the histology, mild changes of a possible toxic process were observed with the increase in oil intake. For the birds that received the inclusion with pracaxi oil, there was a worsening of feed conversion per dozen eggs, an increase in the deposition of linolenic acid in the egg yolk, an increase in the absorption of proteins and minerals. It is concluded that pracaxi oil can be included in the diet of birds without interfering with the quality of the eggs, improving the deposition of fatty acids in the egg yolk and improving the absorption of nutrients, in addition to being a product with high antioxidant capacity.