Abstract
Simple SummaryHeat stress is a main reason of systemic oxidative stress, which compromises broiler meat production and quality. To improve the productivity of poultry meat production, studies have investigated different heat stress amelioration strategies. Among these strategies, low-cost feed supplementations are introduced to potentially reduce the negative effects of heat stress. Previous studies have also investigated the effects of different antioxidants on growth performance and meat quality, while a limited number of studies have been made regarding the impacts of the polyphenols at different doses. Polyphenols with antioxidant properties have positive effects against oxidative stress, and are naturally available in high amounts in plants, which makes them a novel feed supplementation for improving meat production as well as meat quality in heat-stressed broiler chickens. Therefore, this study attempted to investigate the effects of different doses of polyphenols supplementation on growth performance, physiological responses, and meat quality in broiler chickens exposed to cyclic heat stress.Heat stress (HS) compromises growth performance and meat quality of broiler chickens by interrupting lipid and protein metabolism, resulting in increased oxidative damages. The experiment attempted to investigate whether dietary polyphenols (Polygain (POL)) could ameliorate the aforementioned adverse effects of HS on performance and meat quality. One hundred and twenty one day-old-male chicks were allocated to two temperature conditions, thermoneutral (TN) or HS, and fed with either a control diet (CON) or the CON plus four different doses of POL (2, 4, 6 and 10 g/kg). Heat stress caused respiratory alkalosis as evidenced by increased rectal temperature (p < 0.001) and respiration rate (p < 0.001) due to increased blood pH (p < 0.001). Heat stress decreased final body weight (p = 0.061) and breast muscle water content (p = 0.013) while POL improved both (p = 0.002 and p = 0.003, respectively). Heat stress amplified muscle damages, indicated by increased thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (p < 0.001) and reduced myofibril fragmentation index (p = 0.006) whereas POL improved both (p = 0.037 and p = 0.092, respectively). Heat stress impaired meat tenderness (p < 0.001) while POL improved it (p = 0.003). In conclusion, HS impaired growth performance and meat quality whereas POL ameliorated these responses in a dose-dependent manner, and effects of POL were evident under both temperature conditions.
Highlights
Heat stress (HS) has undesired effects on the growth performance [1,2] and meat quality [3] of broiler chickens
There was no effect of temperature on either average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG) or feed conversion ratio (FCR) between days 0–21 of the experiment (Table 2)
Between days 21–35 there was a reduction in ADG (90.3 vs. 85.2 g/d, p = 0.029) and ADFI
Summary
Heat stress (HS) has undesired effects on the growth performance [1,2] and meat quality [3] of broiler chickens. During HS, chickens seek to dissipate unwanted and excess body heat by increasing panting, resulting in alteration of blood acid/base status, which in turn can give rise to respiratory alkalosis [4] and disruptions in muscle membrane integrity [3]. HS results in oxidative stress and membrane lipid oxidation leading to unfavourable meat colour and flavour [6] and impacting on muscle fibre structure [7,8]. To mitigate the unfavourable impact of HS on meat quality and performance, a number of nutritional approaches to decrease oxidation have been suggested [9]. Polyphenols are a group of compounds with antioxidant properties that can be found in various part of vegetables, fruits including roots, leaves and flowers [10,11] agri-food waste and by products [11]
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