Nutrient utilization in broilers fed dried tomato pomace with or without enzyme supplementation

Dried tomato pomace (DTP) is a by-product obtained during processing of tomatoes for making concentrated tomato paste. An experiment was conducted to study the nutrient utilization in broilers fed on iso-nilrogcnous and iso-caloric diets containing DTP at 0, 5, 10 and 15% with or without enzyme supplementation. The percent nitrogen (N) utilization significantly (P<0.01) decreased with increase in the level of DTP inclusion in both the starter and finisher phases. The percent ether extract (EE) and crude fibre (CF) utilization significantly (P<0.01) increased with increase in the level of DTP inclusion in diets in both the phases. The enzyme supplementation has significantly (P<0.01) increased the percent N, EE and CF utilization in both the phases of growth at each level of DTP inclusion. Birds fed on finisher diets showed better percent N, EE and CF utilization than the birds fed on starter diets. The inclusion of DTP in broilers diets had no significant effect on calcium and phosphorus utilization. The birds in starter phase showed better calcium and phosphorus utilization than the birds in finisher phase. It was concluded that DTP could be safely included up to 15% level in the broiler diets with or without enzyme supplementation.