The Effect of Fermented Dragon Fruit Peel Juice on the Performance and Carcass Production of Quails

Abstract— This research aims to determine the performance and carcass production of quails that have been given fermented dragon fruit peel juice. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomized design (CRD) using 180 male quails aged 6 to 16 weeks, divided into 3 treatment with 6 replications per treatment and 10 birds per replication unit. The treatments consisted of drinking water without fermented dragon fruit peel juice (FDFJ0), and drinking water supplemented with 4% (FDFJ4) and 6% (FDFJ6) fermented dragon fruit peel juice. The variable observed in this study are growth performance and carcass characteristics. Data were analyzed statistically using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS for Windows version 23. If significant differences were observed at P<0.05, Duncan’s multiple range test was performed for further comparison. The results showed that supplementation with 4% and 6% FDFJ in drinking water significantly increased body weight gain, carcass weight, carcass percentage, breast meat weight, and breast meat percentage, while significantly reducing feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the control group (FDFJ0). However, there was no significant effect on feed intake, water intake, final body weight, and slaughter weight. In male quails aged 6-16 weeks, it has been determined that adding 4% and 6% fermented dragon fruit peel juice to drinking water enhances growth performance and carcass quality, especially with regard to breast meat production and FCR.