Egg Yolk IgY: A Novel Trend of Feed Additives to Limit Drugs and to Improve Poultry Meat Quality

Abstract

Drugs that are commonly used in poultry farms can potentially cause a detrimental effect on meat consumers as a result of chemical residues. Therefore, seeking a natural alternative is crucial for the health of the consumers. The egg yolk immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is a promising natural replacement for antibiotics in the broilers' diet. There is a scarce focus on the influence of probiotics and IgY on the quality and the nutritive values of broiler meat and whether it can efficiently displace the anti-microbial power of antibiotics. Herein we used 40 Ross chicks (1.2 ± 0.43 days old) and separated them into four groups with variant feed additives (basal diet “control,” probiotic, IgY, and probiotic + IgY). Our findings showed that the combination of probiotic and IgY supplementation enhanced the carcass quality traits and decreased the pH values that could retard spoilage due to bacteria and improve shelf life and meat quality. The same group also achieved a significant reduction in thiobarbituric acid value, indicating an improvement of meat quality. Moreover, color, shear force, water holding capacity, and cooking loss were most acceptable in broiler meat supplemented with IgY, which confirmed the highest carcass quality. Notably, the weight gain in the combination group has been greatly increased. Also, the protein percentage was the highest (22.26 ± 0.29, P < 0.001) in this combined supplementation group, which revealed the highest nutritive values. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli could not be detected in the meat of the probiotics group and/or in the combined treatment group. Interestingly, the IgY group showed an evidence of the killing power (log colony-forming units per milliliter) of S. aureus and Listeria monocytogenes at 1,500 μg/ml. Our findings, in vitro as well as in vivo , revealed that the combination group had antimicrobial bioactivity and enhanced the chickens' immunity. Therefore, IgY, a novel trend of feed additives, can be used to limit drugs. Additionally, the mortality percentage recorded was zero in all groups that received feed supplementation, while the combination group reached the best financial advantages. We concluded that feeding IgY powder with probiotic is a frontier to improve the productivity, immunity, and meat quality of broilers.

Effects of α-glyceryl monolaurate on growth, immune function, volatile fatty acids, and gut microbiota in broiler chickens

“…And, it has been shown that specific IgY has significant inhibitory effects on bacterial growth and resisted parasite infection ( Gujral et al., 2017 ; Qin et al., 2016 ; Li et al., 2015 ). Moreover, additional supplement with IgY can improve the immunity ( Hussein et al., 2020 ). Fortuoso et al.…”

Coccidiosis: Recent Progress in Host Immunity and Alternatives to Antibiotic Strategies

“…Passive immunization utilizing pathogen-specific egg yolk antibodies (IgY) is attracting increasing interest as an alternative strategy to AGPs to improve growth and feed efficiency in poultry [163][164][165]. Since maternal IgY is concentrated in the yolk sac during embryonic development, it can be easily extracted and purified.…”

Impact of Dietary Egg Yolk IgY Powder on Behavior, Meat Quality, Physiology, and Intestinal Escherichia coli Colonization of Broiler Chicks

“…The first group, serving as the control, received the basal ration, whereas the second, third, and fourth groups were fed different concentrations of IgY powder (1,500, 3,000, and 4,000 μg/ml, respectively). All chicks were given unlimited source of food and water and were raised under identical environmental and management protocols ( 7 , 12 ). As shown in Table 1 , diet was prepared in the form of corn–soya for all groups.…”

“…Recently, we have revealed that broilers fed a novel combination of IgY and probiotics improved their behavioral activities and immunity responses ( 7 ). Furthermore, using this combination improved the meat quality characteristics and nutritional value ( 12 ). In addition, we determined that 1,500 μg/ml IgY had a bacteriocidal effect on Gram-positive bacteria; however, we could not evaluate which concentration(s) of IgY might be effective in killing Gram-negative bacteria.…”