Nutritional effect of chlorogenic acid fed to growing broiler chicks

Experimental purified diets with supplemental chlorogenic acid (0, 2, 4 and 6 g kg−1) were given to 25-day-old chicks for a period of 3 days; these levels of chlorogenic acid were approximately similar to those of diets containing 0, 100, 200 and 300 g kg−1 ground sunflower seed. The excreta were collected quantitatively, and at the end of the experimental period the chicks were killed and the ileal digesta collected. No significant differences in food intake, crude protein, crude fat and starch digestibilities were found among chick groups. The presence of chlorogenic acid in the diet significantly affected neither the metabolisable energy value nor the individual ileal amino acid digestibility. These results indicate that dietary chlorogenic acid at a lower concentration than 6 g kg−1 did not measurably affect the nutritional quality of diet.