Quercetin extracted from Sophora japonica flower improves growth performance, nutrient digestibility, cecal microbiota, organ indexes, and breast quality in broiler chicks

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of supplementing quercetin extracted from Sophora japonica flower (QS) to the diet of broiler chicks on their growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility, cecal microbiota, serum lipid profiles, relative organ weight, and breast muscle quality.Method: A total of 1088 1-day-old broiler chicks (mixed sex) were randomly assigned to four groups based on the initial body weight (43.00 ± 0.29 g). The experimental period was 35 days (starter, days 0-7; grower, days 7-21; finisher, days 21-35). There were 17 replicate cages per treatment and 16 birds per cage.Dietary treatments consisted of birds receiving basal diet without quercetin as the control group and treatment groups consisted of birds fed basal diet supplemented with 0.2, 0.4, or 0.6 g/kg QS.Results: With the increase of the QS dosage, body weight gain during days 0-7 (P = 0.021), 7-21 (P = 0.010), and 1-35 (P = 0.045), feed intake during days 0-7 (P = 0.037) and 1-35 (P = 0.025), apparent dry matter digestibility (P = 0.008), apparent energy retention (P = 0.004), cecal lactic acid bacteria counts (P = 0.023), the relative weight of breast muscle (P = 0.014), pH value from breast muscle (P < 0.001), and the water holding capacity of breast muscle (P = 0.012) increased linearly, whereas the drip loss from breast muscle (P = 0.001) decreased linearly. Conclusion:The addition of QS in the diet of broiler chicks had positive effects on the breast muscle yield and breast muscle quality, and improved the dry matter digestibility and energy retention by increasing cecal beneficial bacteria counts, thus improving growth performance.

Influences of flavonoid (quercetin) inclusion to corn‐soybean‐gluten meal‐based diet on broiler performance

“…It is essential to increase digestibility for lowering the quantity of undigested material (Abdelli et al, 2021). In agreement with our study, a broiler‐fed QS‐supplemented diet linearly improved DM and E digestibility (Dang et al, 2022). Similarly, the dietary inclusion of flavonoid (QS) into the diet of growing pigs challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide tended to increase DM and N digestibility, which was due to the change in the gut microbiota causing less systemic inflammation and better metabolic outcomes (Park et al, 2020).…”

“…Phytogenic feed additives can affect animal productivity in a variety of ways based on their components, sources and dosages (Seok et al, 2021). The dietary incorporation of QS (0%–0.06%) improved the broiler growth performance of BWG and FI, while FCR did not differ significantly (Dang et al, 2022). Similarly, in our study, the FI linearly increased and BWG tended to improve, FCR was unaffected by the dietary supplementation of 0–0.06% QS.…”

“…In our trial, broiler‐fed QS‐included diet linearly increased organ weight and colour and decreased drip loss of meat. The QS inclusion increased protein synthesis in the muscle and improved the quality of the meat (Dang et al, 2022).…”

“…In terms of meat quality, the dietary incorporation of flavonoid baicalein (100 and 200 mg/kg) derived from the plant Scutellaria baicalensis improved the spleen index by 43.4% and 25.6%, while the thymus, bursa and liver parameters remained unaffected (Zhou et al, 2019). Moreover, the inclusion of QS had positive effects on WHC, drip loss, pH, colour and breast muscle weight (Dang et al, 2022). The dietary administration of various amounts of hesperidin (a bioflavonoid) exerted a significant impact on broiler meat pH 24 and colour indices among the experimental groups (Simitzis et al, 2011).…”

“…It has a great antioxidant capacity and anti‐inflammatory, digestive health‐promoting, growth‐enhancing and immunological modulating effects and is likely beneficial for the health of humans and animals (Mlcek et al, 2016). Based on the previous research of our laboratory, the incorporation of QS (extracted from the flower of Sophora japonica at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 g/kg) into the broiler diet had beneficial effects on breast muscle quality and yield, increased nutrient digestibility and energy retention by enhancing essential microflora count, and thus improved growth performance (Dang et al, 2022). Similarly, the inclusion of plant‐derived QS (0.25, 0.50 or 1.00 g/kg) in the diet could improve the growth performance, meat stability and immune capacity of broiler chickens (Zhang & Kim, 2020).…”