Effect of Amniotic Injection of N-Carbamylglutamate on Meat Quality of Broilers.

Feng-Dong Zhang,Shu-Geng Wu,Hai-Jun Zhang,Guang-Hai Qi,Jing Wang,Jing Lin

doi:10.3390/ani10040576

Abstract

Simple SummaryN-carbamylglutamate (NCG) is a key activator of endogenous arginine production, which plays a vital role in meat quality and antioxidant performance. To the best of our knowledge, there is no study about NCG enhancing the meat quality of broilers. The present research was aimed at exploring the effects of amniotic injection of NCG on meat quality of pectoral muscle in broilers. The data showed that the in ovo feeding (IOF) of NCG enhanced the arginine content, improved the nutritional properties, enhanced the antioxidant capacity, and improved the meat quality in the pectoral muscle of broilers. In summary, amniotic injection of NCG on day 17.5 of incubation could be an effective and novel approach to improving the meat quality of broilers.The current study was performed to determine the influence of amniotic injection of N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) on meat quality of pectoral muscle in broilers. A total of 792 alive broiler embryos at 17 d of incubation were assigned to three treatments randomly (non-injected control, saline-injected control, or NCG-injected treatment). The two injection treatments were an injection with 0.1 mL 0.85% aseptic saline alone or containing 2 mg NCG per egg at 17.5 d of incubation. After hatching, 72 healthy male chicks were selected from each treatment and housed in six pens for a 42 day feeding study. Pectoral muscles from six 42-day-old broilers were collected from each treatment group and were dissected for meat quality assays. The results showed that arginine contents in pectoral muscle in either free or hydrolytic form in the NCG group were higher than those in the non-injection control group (p < 0.05). In comparison to the non-injection or saline-injection control groups, NCG injection resulted in a lower lactic acid content in pectoral muscle (p < 0.05). Muscular antioxidant capacity in the NCG group was higher, as evidenced by the higher activity of catalase and glutathione peroxidase and lower content of malondialdehyde (p < 0.05). In addition, the group of in ovo administration of NCG had decreased drip loss and increased crude fat content in pectoral muscle in comparison to those of either control group (p < 0.05) and had enhanced crude protein content compared to that of the saline-injection control group (p < 0.05). Briefly, these results indicate that amniotic administration of NCG in the late incubation phase increased the arginine content, improved the nutritional properties, enhanced the antioxidant capacity, and improved the meat quality in the pectoral muscle of broilers. Amniotic injection of NCG may serve as a novel approach to improving the meat quality of broilers.

Highlights

Much attention has been paid to broiler meat due to its characteristics of low fat, high protein, and richness of functional peptides [1], which are all favored by health-conscious consumers
There was no significant differences in all indices of hatchability, breast muscle weight, and growth performance among the three treatment groups (p > 0.05)
Because Arg is involved in the metabolism of glucose and amino acids [25], protein synthesis [26], and antioxidant capacity [27], it is reasonable to predict that the increased Arg induced by NCG exposure may affect glycolysis and antioxidant ability in broiler chickens

Summary

Introduction

Much attention has been paid to broiler meat due to its characteristics of low fat, high protein, and richness of functional peptides [1], which are all favored by health-conscious consumers. The nutritional supply to broiler embryos may be a beneficial pathway to enhance the quality and composition of poultry meat. The amnion of the late-term embryo (17.5–19 d of incubation) is the ideal site for nutrients administration to enhance growth performance and energy reserves [4,5,6]. In this context, in order to obtain favorable broiler meat quality, the modulation of the embryo nutritional supply in the incubation stage is a promising solution. Since the risk for protein catabolism in late embryos exists [10], it is interesting to probe the efficacy of IOF of amino acids on meat quality of market size broilers

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion