The nutritional value and quality of squid (Illex illecebrosus) meal as source of dietary protein for broiler chicken.

1. Squid meal (SqM), produced by grinding and drying the whole squid (Illex illecebrosus) common to the northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, contained 645 g protein/kg and appeared limiting with respect to lysine, methionine and cystine. 2. Although a comparison of the essential amino acid profiles of SqM with other protein concentrates indicated that SqM was higher than fish meal and soya-bean meal but lower than casein or whole-egg protein, these teported for evaluating protein quality of SqM. It was based on the direct chromatographic determination, of its collagen content, from the amounts of 5-hydroxylysine or 5-hydroxyproline present, and elastin, from the amounts of desmosine or iso-desmosine present. This method can also be routinely used to assess the connective tissue content and protein quality of animal protein supplements such as fish, meat-and-bone meals. 4. A nutritional evaluation of SqM as a source of protein for poultry was carried out using 320 male and 320 female Cobb chicks fed from 1-d-old to 48 d, a control diet containing 50 g/kg fish meal or test diets containing 50 g, 100 g or 150 g SqM/kg. 5. Feeding of SqM at a rate of up to 100 g/kg diet resulted in optimum biological response and monetary returns.