The aim of the present study was to produce fish silage by lactic acid fermentation and evaluate its use in feeding of quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). An oven-dried mixture of fish silage and soybean meal (1:1 w/w) was used to prepare the diets with different levels of inclusion (0, 10, 20 and 30%) and evaluate its effect on the performance and meat quality of 160 quails. The inclusion level did not affect the growth and feed conversion ratio. The carcass yield (70.3%) and sensory quality of breast meat were not significantly different among the treatments (p>0.05). However, the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic (C18:1n9C), linoleic (C18:2n6C), linolenic (C18:3n3), arachidonic (C20:4n6), cis eicosapentaenoic (C20:5n3) and cis docosahexaenoic (C22:6n3) increased in quail breast meat with the inclusion of fish silage:soybean mixture in the diet (p<0.05). Fish silage and its use in quail diets could offer a good alternative for fish waste utilization as feedstuff component for the improvement of fatty acid composition in its breast meat.
fish wastes; biological silage; quails feeding; meat quality
