Evaluation of Methionine Sources in Protein Reduced Diets for Turkeys in the Late Finishing Period Regarding Performance, Footpad Health and Liver Health

Jan Berend Lingens,Ralph Brehm,Andreas Lemme,Amr Abd El-Wahab,Marion Langeheine,Christian Visscher,Juliano Cesar De Paula Dorigam

doi:10.3390/agriculture11090901

Jan Berend Lingens, Ralph Brehm + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11090901

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Abstract

Footpad dermatitis and hepatic lipidosis are health problems in fattening turkeys where a positive influence of higher methionine content in feed is discussed. The effects of the methionine supplements DL-methionine (DLM) and liquid methionine hydroxyl analogue free acid (MHA-FA) under the aspect of low protein diets were investigated in this study based on performance parameters, footpad health, liver health and oxidative stress. In this study, 80 female turkeys (B.U.T. Big 6) of 63 day-old, were randomly assigned to four groups characterising a 2 × 2 factorial design with five replicates each over five weeks. The groups were fed with diets differing in methionine source (DLM vs. MHA-FA, assuming a biological activity of MHA-FA of 65%) and crude protein content (15% vs. 18%) for 35 days. The results showed no significant interactions between the protein content and methionine source. Strong protein reduction significantly impaired water intake, feed intake, weight gain and feed conversation ratio, but improved footpad health. DLM and MHA-FA addition had no significant effect on weight gain, crude fat and protein contents in the liver, but DLM resulted in a significant increase in livers antioxidative capacity compared to MHA-FA. Although the protein reduction resulted in reduced performance, the study showed that MHA-FA can be replaced by DLM in a 100:65 weight ratio without compromising performance but with certain advantages in the antioxidative capacity of the liver.

Highlights

In recent years, maintaining the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises has led to a further increase in the efficiency of animal production [1]
Methionine (Met) plays a central role, as it is the first limiting amino acid for poultry and serves as a building block for protein synthesis, being a precursor for cysteine and a functional amino acid involved in methyl donation for glutathione to counter oxidative stress [4]
A lack of methionine is discussed as a predisposing factor for footpad dermatitis (FPD), hepatic lipidosis and oxidative stress [8,9,10,11]

Summary

Introduction

In recent years, maintaining the competitiveness of agricultural enterprises has led to a further increase in the efficiency of animal production [1]. Feed management practices, including those that substantially reduce dietary crude protein, are possibly the most important measure to reduce nitrogen excretion and the emission of nitrogen into the environment which is attained with the supplementation of non-bound amino acids [4,5] In this context, methionine (Met) plays a central role, as it is the first limiting amino acid for poultry and serves as a building block for protein synthesis, being a precursor for cysteine and a functional amino acid involved in methyl donation for glutathione to counter oxidative stress [4]. Two products for balancing dietary methionine are commercially available: DL-methionine (DLM) and liquid methionine hydroxyl analoguefree acid (MHA-FA) Research suggests that they differ in their biological activity, which is confirmed in the assessment performed by EFSA in numerous publications as 75% on an equimolar basis [6,7]. A lack of methionine is discussed as a predisposing factor for footpad dermatitis (FPD), hepatic lipidosis and oxidative stress [8,9,10,11]

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