Use of tomato by-products (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) in feeding fattening chickens (Review)

Abstract

The main problems confronting the global animal industry are the availability and high cost of feed ingredients. This requires the search for inexpensive alternative food sources. The objective of this work was to characterize the by-products of the industrial processing of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) for their use in feeding broilers. Agroindustrial by-products, as energy and protein carriers, are important and promising in the search for sustainable alternatives for animal feed. Tomato processing produces a non-negligible amount of waste between 2 and 10 % of the fresh weight of the fruit. These residues can contain between 22.1 and 22.4% protein, 14.5 to 15.7% fat, and 20.8 to 30.5% fiber, in addition to vitamins A, B1 and B2 and essential and non-essential amino acids, favorable for incorporation into fattening chicken rations without any adverse effect on performance, growth, body weight gain and economic efficiency. Greater use of dried tomato residues in the formulation of chicken diets could reduce feed costs and reduce the environmental consequences of its management and disposal.