Betaine improves growth performance, liver health, antioxidant status, breast meat yield, and quality in broilers fed a mold-contaminated corn-based diet

Chao Wen; Rui Chen; Yueping Chen; Liren Ding; Tian Wang; Yanmin Zhou

Animal Nutrition (Sep 2021)

Betaine improves growth performance, liver health, antioxidant status, breast meat yield, and quality in broilers fed a mold-contaminated corn-based diet

Chao Wen,
Rui Chen,
Yueping Chen,
Liren Ding,
Tian Wang,
Yanmin Zhou

Affiliations

Chao Wen: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
Rui Chen: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
Yueping Chen: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
Liren Ding: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
Tian Wang: College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
Yanmin Zhou: Corresponding author.; College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7, no. 3
pp. 661 – 666

Abstract

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Betaine has been demonstrated to improve growth performance and antioxidant status of animals under various stress conditions. However, there is no literature on the effects of betaine in animals exposed to mycotoxins, which are among the most prevalent contaminants in feed. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the influence of dietary betaine on broilers fed a diet based on mold-contaminated corn (MCC). A total of 192 Ross 308 male broiler chicks at 1 d of age were randomly divided into 4 groups with 6 replicates and fed an MCC-based diet supplemented with 0, 250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg betaine, respectively. Betaine increased average daily gain (linear, P = 0.030) and decreased feed conversion ratio (linear, P = 0.027) of broilers during d 1 – 21, and decreased feed conversion ratio during d 22 – 42 (linear, P = 0.012; quadratic, P < 0.001) and d 1 – 42 (linear, P = 0.003; quadratic, P = 0.004), whereas feed intake was not affected. Total cholesterol (linear, P = 0.024), alanine aminotransferase (quadratic, P < 0.001) and alkaline phosphatase (linear, P = 0.007; quadratic, P = 0.025) activities in serum were decreased by betaine. Betaine linearly increased breast muscle yield (P = 0.003) and pH24 h (P = 0.008), and decreased drip loss (P = 0.022). Betaine increased (linear, P = 0.025; quadratic, P = 0.016) total superoxide dismutase activity in breast muscle and reduced malondialdehyde content in serum (linear, P = 0.006), liver (quadratic, P = 0.006) and breast muscle (linear, P = 0.003). Moreover, the zearalenone concentrations in breast muscle were linearly decreased by betaine (P = 0.006). It was concluded that betaine could improve growth performance, liver health, antioxidant status, and breast meat yield and quality, and reduce zearalenone residue in broilers fed the MCC-based diet, especially at 500 or 1,000 mg/kg.

Published in Animal Nutrition

ISSN: 2405-6545 (Print)
Publisher: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Country of publisher: China
LCC subjects: Agriculture: Animal culture
Website: https://www.keaipublishing.com/en/journals/animal-nutrition/

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