Dietary Beta-Hydroxy-Beta-Methyl Butyrate Supplementation Affects Growth, Carcass Characteristics, Meat Quality, and Serum Metabolomics Profile in Broiler Chickens.

Zhiyi Tang,Changbing Zheng,Bo Song,Jie Zheng,Yulong Yin,Jiashun Chen

doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.633964

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the effects of beta-hydroxy-beta-methyl butyrate (HMB) on serum metabolic profiles and meat quality of muscles in Wenshi broiler chickens. Birds were fed a basal diet with an additional 0, 0.05, 0.10, or 0.15% HMB, respectively. Results showed that dietary HMB quadratically increased the average daily gain (P = 0.058) and decreased feed:gain (P < 0.05) mainly in the starter phase. At 51 days of age, birds receiving 0.10% HMB diet exhibited less abdominal fat and more breast yield than the control (P < 0.05). Moreover, dietary HMB quadratically decreased the L∗ value and drip loss in selected muscles (P < 0.05) and increased the a∗ value in breast muscle (P < 0.05). Serum metabolome profiling showed that the most differentially abundant metabolites are lipids and lipid-like molecules, including phosphatidylcholines. It was concluded that HMB improved growth performance and meat quality of muscle in broilers.

Highlights

As the fastest growing and most efficient meat species, broilers have been produced on a large scale to obtain more meat yield (Austic et al, 2013; Mir et al, 2017)
During the grower phase, 0.15% hydroxy-beta-methyl butyrate (HMB) led to a reduction in the average daily gain (ADG) compared to the control group (P = 0.045)
Of note, increasing the level of dietary HMB to 0.15%, ADG was not affected in the starter phase but was significantly decreased in the grower phase

Summary

Introduction

As the fastest growing and most efficient meat species, broilers have been produced on a large scale to obtain more meat yield (Austic et al, 2013; Mir et al, 2017). In the field of poultry production, HMB has been reported to improve growth performance and carcass traits, promote muscle growth, enhance immune and intestinal function, and reduce mortality (Nissen et al, 1994; Qiao et al, 2013; Szczesniak et al, 2015; Suad et al, 2018). Despite these observations, little information is available regarding the effects of HMB on meat quality in broiler chicks.

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