Is Palm Kernel Cake a Suitable Alternative Feed Ingredient for Poultry?

Simple Summary Supply of raw materials such as corn and soybean meal as livestock and poultry feeds may be limited and is a significant concern during the Covid-19 pandemic especially for the countries that depend on importation of raw materials. Consequently, the palm kernel cake has been proposed as an alternative raw material for animal feeds to reduce importation dependency. The chemical composition of palm kernel cake varies depending on the method of oil extraction. The crude fiber content of palm kernel cake is acceptable to most ruminants but is considered high for poultry. Biodegradation of palm kernel cake through solid-state fermentation can improve its nutritional quality, improving broiler health status and growth performance. Palm kernel cake (PKC), a by-product of oil extracted from palm nuts through expeller press or solvent extraction procedures is one of the highest quantities of locally available and potentially inexpensive agricultural product. PKC provides approximately 14-18% of crude protein (CP), 12-20% crude fiber (CF), 3-9% ether extract (EE), and different amounts of various minerals that feasible to be used as a partial substitute of soybean meal (SBM) and corn in poultry nutrition. Poultry's digestibility is reported to be compromised due to the indigestion of the high fiber content, making PKC potentially low for poultry feeding. Nevertheless, solid-state fermentation (SSF) can be applied to improve the nutritional quality of PKC by improving the CP and reducing CF content. PKC also contains beta-mannan polysaccharide, which works as a prebiotic. However, there is a wide variation for the inclusion level of PKC in the broiler diet. These variations may be due to the quality of PKC, its sources, processing methods and value-added treatment. It has been documented that 10-15% of treated PKC could be included in the broiler's diets. The inclusion levels will not contribute to a negative impact on the growth performances and carcass yield. Furthermore, it will not compromise intestinal microflora, morphology, nutrient digestibility, and immune system. PKC with a proper SSF process (FPKC) can be offered up to 10-15% in the diets without affecting broilers' production performance.