Growth performance and meat quality of broilers fed with microencapsulated organic acids

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of microencapsulated organic acids to replace conventional performance enhancers gives rise to adequate zootechnical performance, quality of chicken meat and animal health. We used 640 birds, divided into four groups with eight repetitions per group (n = 20), as follows: 1) negative control (NC): only basal feed; 2) positive control (PC): basal feed with antibiotics and coccidiostatic agents; 3) dose recommended by the manufacturer of organic acid according to the age of the birds (OA-R: days 1–21 – 3.0 kg/Ton; days 22–33 - 2.0 kg/Ton; days 34–42 – 1.0 kg/Ton); 4) test dose of organic acid (OA-T: days 1–21 – 2.2 kg/Ton; days 22–33 – 1.5 kg/Ton; days 34–42 – 0.75 kg/Ton). Zootechnical performance was measured on days 7, 21 and 42. Excreta were collected for parasitological analysis and total bacterial count on days 21 and 42. Blood samples were collected at 42 days of age for biochemical, hematological, and enzymatic analyses. At 42 days, eight birds per treatment were euthanized for meat quality analysis and fatty acid profile measurement. Birds supplemented with organic acids showed a production efficiency index equal to that of the PC (P < 0.05). There were lower total bacterial counts in the OAT group than in the NC and PC (P < 0.001) at 42 days. The lowest excretion of oocysts was found in the PC, followed by the OAT group compared to the NC (P < 0.001) at 42 days. A higher villus:crypt relationship was observed in birds in the OAT group than in the PC (P < 0.01). There were lower levels of total saturated fatty acids in samples from birds belonging to NC and OAT (P < 0.01) than in PC; levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids were higher in OAR than in PC (P < 0.01). We conclude that the addition of the tested molecules maintains the productive efficiency index, while adding coccidiostatic and antimicrobial activity, in addition to reducing the proportion of saturated fatty acids and increasing the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the meat.