Effects of chitooligosaccharide supplementation on performance, blood characteristics, relative organ weight, and meat quality in broiler chickens

• Published in: Poultry science 2009-03, Vol.88 (3), p.593-600
• Main Authors: Zhou, T.X, Chen, Y.J, Yoo, J.S, Huang, Y, Lee, J.H, Jang, H.D, Shin, S.O, Kim, H.J, Cho, J.H, Kim, I.H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: abdominal fat; Adipose Tissue - anatomy & histology; Adipose Tissue - drug effects; Animal Feed - analysis; animal growth; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; animal performance; Animals; blood lipids; breast muscle; broiler chickens; broiler feeding; Bursa of Fabricius - anatomy & histology; Bursa of Fabricius - drug effects; chicken meat; Chickens - blood; Chickens - growth & development; chicks; chitooligosaccharide; Diet - veterinary; Dietary Supplements; erythrocytes; experimental diets; feed conversion; feed intake; Gizzard, Avian - anatomy & histology; Gizzard, Avian - drug effects; high density lipoprotein; lipid content; liver; Liver - anatomy & histology; Liver - drug effects; liveweight gain; Meat - standards; meat quality; monounsaturated fatty acids; morphogenesis; Muscle, Skeletal - anatomy & histology; Muscle, Skeletal - drug effects; oligosaccharides; Oligosaccharides - pharmacology; Organ Size; saturated fatty acids; Spleen - anatomy & histology; Spleen - drug effects; tissue weight; triacylglycerols
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.3382/ps.2008-00285

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with chitooligosaccharide (COS) on growth performance, blood characteristics, relative organ weight, and meat quality in broilers. A total of 480 broilers with an average initial BW of 45.04 g per chick were randomly allocated into 1 of the following 4 dietary treatments (20 broilers per pen with 6 pens per treatment): 1) CON (basal diet), 2) ANT (basal diet + 44 mg/kg of avilamycin), 3) COS0.2 (basal diet + 14 g/kg of COS), 4) COS0.4 (basal diet + 28 g/kg of COS). The experiment lasted for 5 wk and avilamycin was administered from d 0 to 21. Growth performance was measured on d 0, 21, and 35, and all other response criteria were measured on d 35. No change in feed conversion (G:F) was observed in response to any of the treatments throughout the experimental period (P > 0.05). However, BW gain and feed intake were greater (P < 0.05) in broilers provided with feed supplemented with COS than in those in the control group. In addition, broilers had significantly greater (P < 0.05) red blood cell and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations when they were provided with the COS0.4 diet, whereas the triglyceride concentration was lower (P < 0.05) in broilers in the COS0.2 treatment group. No other blood characteristics were affected by the treatments. Additionally, as the dietary COS concentration increased, the liver weight increased (P < 0.05). Conversely, as the concentrations of dietary COS increased, abdominal fat decreased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, meat yellowness decreased (P < 0.05) as the concentration of COS increased. Finally, the breast meat and abdominal fat of birds provided with feed supplemented with COS had a lower (P < 0.05) saturated fatty acid concentration but a greater concentration of total monounsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05) than that of birds in the control. In conclusion, COS can improve the performance and breast meat quality of broilers while increasing the red blood cell and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations in blood. In addition, COS can induce a decrease in abdominal fat and improve meat quality.