The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether a low-dietary application (15 mg/kg) of an alkaloid preparation containing quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids and obtained from Macleaya cordata (Sangrovit) influenced caecal metabolism, growth performance and long-chain fatty acid composition of breast meat. One-day-old broiler chicks (Cobb 500) were fed a diet without supplement or with a 15 mg/kg dose of Sangrovit (C and A groups respectively) for 5 weeks. Although the A treatment was not accompanied by an enhanced final body weight of broilers, the intake of a diet with Sangrovit influenced the caecal microflora activity. The addition of Sangrovit to a diet decreased potentially harmful β-glucuronidase and β-glucosidase activities (p<0.05 and p=0.075 respectively), and at the same time led to a significant increase in activities of bacterial glycolytic enzymes α-glucosidase, α-galactosidase, β-galactosidase in comparison to the control group. The concentration of total short-chain fatty acids in the caecal digesta was increased in the A treatment contributing to the tendency towards lower caecal pH (p=0.078). The analysis of breast meat fatty acids showed that the dietary application of Sangrovit evoked some changes in contents of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) contents. The applied dosage of Sangrovit caused an increase in the sum of MUFA and the tendency towards lower PUFA sum (p<0.05 and p=0.062 respectively) as in relation with the C group. Although the nutritionally relevant n-6/n-3 PUFA and the (PUFA+MUFA)/saturated fatty acids ratios remained similar in both groups, further research is postulated to establish the effect of this preparation on meat quality. To sum up, despite of a lack of the improvement in final body weight, a low dose of dietary Sangrovit was found to exert positive effects on the caecal metabolism of the broilers.

PurposeThe objective of this study was to establish the composition of polyphenolic preparations obtained from industrial strawberry pomace with two methods of extraction: the water and the water-alcoholic one and then to analyse their effects in the gastrointestinal tract depending on the composition of dietary fibre—cellulose or fructooligosaccharides (FOS).MethodsFreeze-dried water extract (PTW), containing 5.1 % of ellagic acid, 0.2 % of proanthocyanidins, and soluble carbohydrates as a major part, and water–alcohol extract (PTE), containing 17.1 % of ellagic acid and 10.9 % of proanthocyanidins, were administered, in the equivalent quantity of 0.06 % of ellagic acid, to 4- to 8-week-old rats (8 animals per group), as a component of modified AIN-93 diets containing 5 % of cellulose or FOS.ResultsThe addition of strawberry pomace extracts had no effect on either the diet intake or the body weight of experimental rats. Both extracts, similarly to FOS, beneficially reduced the activity of β-glucuronidase in caecal digesta, with the PTW effect being significantly higher than that of PTE (7.59 vs. 9.20 μmol/h/g, P = 0.001). In comparison with PTE, the PTW extract significantly increased the caecal digesta mass (1.45 vs. 1.27 k/kg BW) and the total production of SCFA (86.1 vs. 71.4 μmol/100 g BW). The extract enhanced the physiological effect of FOS by inhibiting the activity of β-glucuronidase, increasing the caecal digesta mass and SCFA production. Such an effect was not recorded in the case of the PTE preparation.ConclusionsThe addition of strawberry pomace extracts affected the activity of certain enzymes of intestinal microflora and its most important products.

The objective of this study was to determine the physiological effect of supplementing turkey diets with different vegetable oils, i.e. soyabean (S) oil, rapeseed (R) oil and linseed (L) oil, which have different concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). The total contents of n-6 PUFA and n-3 PUFA were as follows: diet S, 49.7 and 7.02%, diet R, 33.0 and 7.96%, and diet L, 30.3 and 30.6%; the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was 7.3, 4.4 and 1.0, respectively. The experimental materials comprised four groups of turkey hens (14 replications of fifteen birds each). The amount of dietary oil supplementation was increased from 2% in the first four weeks to 6% at the final stage of fattening (14-15 weeks). The apparent total tract digestibility of crude fat in 7-week-old turkeys (2.5% oil in diet) ranged from 89.9 to 91.1%, and showed no statistically significant differences. Dressing percentage, breast, thigh, and drumstick muscle contents did not differ among groups. Group L had a significantly higher intestinal fat weight (0.84% body weight (BW)) than the other groups (0.60-0.62%). In comparison with diet S, diets R and L contributed to a significant decrease in the levels of saturated fatty acids (from 32.9% to 30.3 and 30.2%) in breast meat lipids. In group L turkeys, the share of PUFA in total fatty acids in breast meat lipids was significantly higher (37.3% .1% in groups S and R, respectively), and the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was significantly lower (1.2 vs 5.6 and 5.1). As for the performance indices (final BW, feed conversion ratio), both rapeseed and linseed oils could be recognized as comparable alternatives to soyabeen oil (in both cases P>0.05 vs S group). However, the highest final BW followed the dietary treatment with linseed oil (P<0.05 vs group R).