Effect of processed quinoa on performance traits, small intestinal morphology, and blood parameters of Ross broiler chickens

Quinoa with a very high nutritional value can be a good alternative to poultry ration. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of processed quinoa seeds on performance, small intestinal morphology, and blood parameters of Ross broiler chickens. The present experiment was performed with 5 treatments, 4 replications, and 15 chickens per pen in a completely randomized design. Hydrothermal, extrusion, and expansion methods were used to process quinoa seeds. Apart from the control treatment, 15% of quinoa seeds were included in the other treatments. The studied traits were recorded. The general linear model procedure in SAS software was used to compare the means of treatments. The effect of processing methods on body weight, feed conversion ratio, total protein, uric acid, and blood cholesterol, villi height, crypt villi depth, and length to depth ratio of cryogenic villi of jejunum were significant (P<0.01). Quinoa processing improved its nutritional properties. In general, extrusion and expansion processing methods were more effective than the hydrothermal method in improving the quality of quinoa.