Desenvolvimento da mucosa jejunal de frangos de corte linhagem caipira alimentados com farelo da semente de cupuaçu (Theobroma Grandiflorum)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adding different levels of cupuaçu seed meal to the diet of free-range chickens on the development of the jejunal mucosa and goblet cell count. Three hundred birds of the Label Rouge free-range lineage were used, distributed in a completely randomized experimental design with five treatments, 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28% inclusion of Cupuaçu seed meal in the diet, with five replicates of 12 animals per treatment. At 14 and 28 days of age, the animals were weighed and five animals per treatments were euthanized to collect samples from the jejunal intestinal segment. The variables analyzed were villus height, villus width, crypt depth, villus/crypt ratio, muscle layer thickness, absorption area and goblet cell count. Data were submitted to regression analysis and the means of all treatments were compared with the control group, using the Dunnett test. The use of cupuaçu seed meal altered the development of the intestinal mucosa, influencing (p<0,05) in a linear decreasing the variables such as villus height, crypt villus ratio, villus width and villus area. The variables muscle layer thickness and the number of goblet cells were influenced (p<0.05) in a linear and increasing manner. The inclusion of cupuaçu seed meal in the diet of Label Rouge broilers at high levels (14, 21 and 28%) negatively impacts the development of the intestinal mucosa, which can impair the processes of digestion and absorption of nutrients.