Evaluation of meat quality after application of different feed additives in diet of broiler chickens

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of natural feed additives, namely bee pollen extract, propolis extract and probiotic preparation, on technological properties of meat in order to evaluate the meat quality of Ross 308 broiler chickens. The feeding of chickens (180 pcs) lasted for a period of 42 days. The experiment was carried out without segregation between the genders. The chickens were randomly divided into 4 groups. The control group was fed a basal diet, whereas the other three groups were fed diets supplemented with natural additives, i.e. bee pollen extract at level of 400 mg.kg-1 of feed mixture, propolis extract at level of 400 mg.kg-1 of feed mixture, and probiotic preparation based on Lactobacillus fermentum (1.109 CFU per 1 g of bearing medium) in an amount of 3.3 g added to water (for 30 pcs chickens until 21 days of age, for 20 pcs chickens from 22nd to 42nd day of age) given to group E1, group E2 and group E3, respectively. The feed mixtures were produced without any antibiotic preparations and coccidiostatics. During the whole period of experiment, the broiler chickens had ad libitum access to feed and water. The following technological properties were examined: cooling loss (after 24 h of storage at 4 °C), freezing loss (after 3 months of storage at -18 °C), roasting loss (performed on roasted meat that was stored at -18 °C for 3 months before thawing), colour parameters based on CIELab system (the L*, a*, b* values of raw breast and thigh muscle), and tenderness (as shear force of roasted breast and thigh muscle). We have made a finding, that the examined additives had only little impact on meat quality in most of the investigated parameters, except the significant increase (p ≤0.05) in redness (a*) values and the slight decrease in roasting loss and shear force determination after propolis extract supplementation. Therefore, it may be inferred that propolis extract has been shown as the most appropriate feed additive among the applied supplements.

Effects of dietary supplementation of a probiotic (Bacillus subtilis) on bone mass and meat quality of broiler chickens

“…In the present study, the leg muscle lightness (L∗), redness (a∗), and yellowness (b∗) were significantly increased in the probiotic-supplemented groups compared with controls. Similar findings ( Wideman et al., 2016 ; Khan et al., 2018 ) and conflicting results ( Haščík et al., 2015 ; Stęczny and Kokoszynski, 2019 ) have been reported previously. The improvement in the leg muscle color revealed in the present study may attribute similarly to the findings in pigs ( Han et al., 2020 ).…”

Growth, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and microbial aspects of growing quail fed diets enriched with two different types of probiotics (Bacillus toyonensis and Bifidobacterium bifidum)

“…(2015a) mentioned that redness in breast muscle was increased, whereas the values of L∗ and b∗ for broiler breast meat were not altered because of probiotic ( Lactobacillus fermentum ) supplementation to drinking water. However, Haščík et al. (2015b) found a significant increase in redness and yellowness of thigh and increase in the lightness of breast and thigh cuts in birds fed probiotics alone or in combination with pollen.…”

The effect of feeding milk thistle seed cakes on quality indicators of broiler chickens meat

“…Various trials showed that silymarin addition in diet or silymarin administration increased productive and reproductive performances and improved livestock health status of animals (Tedesco, 2001). Many works investigate the effect of herbs addition to feed mixtures for broiler chickens and their influence to the meat quality (Haščík et al, 2015;Bobko et al, 2009). The rapid growth of modern broilers hybrid and toxic substances in the feed mixtures can lead to metabolic and oxidative stress.…”