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A total of 240 broiler chicken of same hatch with uniform weight were used in a biological experiment with completely randomized design to investigate the effects of incorporating organic chromium (Cr) in flaxseed meal based diet on the fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and functional properties of broiler chicken meat. Five diets were formulated as per the recommendations of BIS (Nutrient requirements for poultry 13: 9863, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 1992) in which flaxseed meal was used to replace 10% of soyabean in basal diet and four levels of Cr (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg/kg diet) as Cr-picolinate were used. The results revealed that flaxseed feeding significantly increased the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, including MUFA, PUFA, ω-3, ω-6 fatty acids and ω-3:ω-6 and PUFA:SFA ratios, whereas, significant decline was seen in saturated fatty acids and no effect of Cr was observed on the fatty acid profile of broiler chicken. Flaxseed feeding significantly reduced the cholesterol and fat percentage of meat, whereas, significant progressive reduction was observed with increasing Cr levels. The combination of 10% flaxseed with 1.0 mg Cr/kg diet increased the final pH of broiler meat. The addition of flaxseed significantly reduced water holding capacity, extract release volume and antioxidant potential of broiler meat, whereas, increasing Cr supplementation progressively increased them. Flaxseed feeding significantly increased the drip loss and lipid peroxidation of broiler meat, whereas, Cr supplementation decreased them. It was concluded that inclusion of 10% flaxseed and 1.5 mg Cr/kg diet results in desirable fatty acid profile, oxidative stability and functional properties of broiler chicken meat.

The present study investigated the effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus (LBA) and mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) supplementation on the production performance, serum biochemistry, antioxidant profile, health indices, meat quality, and lipid oxidative stability of broiler chicken. A total of 252 commercial broiler chickens at 1 d old of uniform body weight were randomly allocated to 6 maize-soybean-based dietary treatments: T 1 (control diet), T 2 ( antibiotic bacitracin methylene di-salicylate [BMD] at 20 mg/kg diet), T 3 (MOS at 0.1% + LBA at 10 6 CFU/g feed), T 4 (MOS at 0.1% + LBA at 10 7 CFU/g feed), T 5 (MOS at 0.2% + LBA at 10 6 CFU/g feed), and T 6 (MOS at 0.2% + LBA at 10 7 CFU/g feed). Each treatment was assigned to 6 replicates of 7 birds. The samples for meat quality and serum biochemistry analysis were taken from 12 birds per treatment (2 birds/replicate). The results revealed better ( P < 0.01) growth performance and production efficiency of birds fed either T 5 or T 6 diet compared to control or BMD supplemented diet and BMD-supplemented birds superseded the control birds. Higher ( P < 0.01) serum and liver antioxidant enzyme activities, meat antioxidant capacity (2, 2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid [ABTS] and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] assays], serum total protein, high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol ( P < 0.05), and globulin levels ( P < 0.01) were observed in birds fed either T 5 or T 6 diet compared to control or BMD supplemented birds, whereas, lower lipid oxidation ( P < 0.01), cardiac risk ratio, atherogenic coefficient, atherogenic index of plasma, serum glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol levels ( P < 0.01), and serum albumin-to-globulin ratio ( P < 0.05) were observed in the chickens. The pH of meat from birds fed T 4 , T 5 or T 6 diet was lower ( P < 0.01) compared to control and other treatments. The extract release volume (ERV), water holding capacity (WHC), and protein content of meat were higher ( P < 0.05) in birds fed either T 5 or T 6 diet compared to control or BMD supplemented birds. Thus, it was concluded that the supplementation of 0.2% MOS along with LBA at 10 6 CFU/g is optimum for better growth performance, serum biochemistry, antioxidant profile, health indices, meat quality, and lipid oxidative stability of broiler chickens.

1. This experiment was to investigate the effects of increasing dietary vitamin E on physical and biochemical characteristics of semen in Indian reared Kadaknath (KN) cockerels. DL-alpha-Tocopherol acetate was used as the source of vitamin E. 2. A total of 135 one-day-old male KN chicks were randomly selected and divided into 9 groups with 15 chicks in each group (3 dietary treatments x 3 replicates). 3. The basal diet contained 15 IU (10 mg) vitamin E/kg and the two experimental diets were supplemented with 150 IU (100 mg) and 300 IU (200 mg) vitamin E/kg (diets T(2) and T(3), respectively). 4. Physical characteristics in terms of semen volume, sperm concentration, sperm motility and percentage live sperm did not differ significantly, whereas proportion of abnormal and dead spermatozoa were significantly lower and fertility higher in the T(2) group. 5. Biochemical characteristics in term of quantities of protein and nitric oxide (NO) did not differ significantly, whereas the quantity of glucose, acid phosphatase (ACP) and vitamin E were significantly higher in the T(2) group. 6. In contrast, the quantities of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) were significantly lower in T(2) group and higher in the T(1) (control) group. 7. From this study it can be concluded that moderate supplementation of dietary vitamin E may be beneficial for physical and biochemical characteristics of semen in Indian reared KN cock.