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Purpose The effects of astaxanthin (Ax) on the in vitro development of bovine embryos cultured under heat stress were investigated in combination with the assessment of its cellular accumulation and action on mitochondrial membrane potential (Δ

We evaluated effects of dietary supplementation with astaxanthin (Ax)-rich yeast, Phaffia rhodozyma (Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous), on broiler chicken meat quality. Fourteen-day-old female Ross broilers were divided into three groups: control group, Ax-free diet; Ax 10 group, 10 mg/kg Ax diet; and Ax 20 group, 20 mg/kg Ax diet for 28 days. At 42 days old, chickens were slaughtered, and then growth performance, meat quality and sensory attributes were analyzed. Compared with the control, a* values increased significantly after slaughter and 48 h postmortem for Ax 20 samples (P<0.05) and for b* values in Ax 20 and Ax 10 groups (P<0.05). Cooking loss decreased in the Ax 20 group (P<0.05). After 120 h aging, contents of several free amino acids and total free amino acid content of Ax 20 group were significantly higher than the control (P<0.05). In sensory evaluation, meat texture attributes improved significantly in the Ax 20 group (P<0.01). No significant changes occurred in flavor attribute scores of meat soup from the Ax 20 group compared with the control even though most assessors preferred meat soup from the Ax 20 group. Overall, Ax-rich yeast in the diet improves broiler chicken meat quality.

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Two experiments were conducted to determine if dietary amylase and acid protease supplementation improves the nutritive value of corn‐soybean diet, and whether the dietary inorganic phosphorus (P) level affects the growth‐promoting effect induced by the enzyme supplementation in chicks. In the first experiment, 4‐day‐old Single Comb White Leghorn male chicks were given a corn‐soybean diet supplemented with amylase and acid protease for 10 days. Dietary amylase addition produced a significant improvement in growth and food efficiency, whereas acid protease had no effect on these parameters. Although there was no significant interaction between amylase and acid protease, the combination of the two enzymes produced the greatest improvement in growth performance. In contrast, neither enzyme influenced the metabolizable energy value or nitrogen balance. In the second experiment, chicks were given corn‐soybean diets having low, medium and high levels of inorganic P (3.5, 4.3 and 5.1 g/kg, respectively), supplemented with both enzymes. There were significant interactions between the dietary inorganic P level and enzyme supplementation on final bodyweight, bodyweight gain and food intake. Enzyme supplementation significantly improved chick growth at the medium inorganic P level, but not at the low or high levels. Although the thigh bone ash content and serum P concentration were improved as the dietary inorganic P level increased, enzyme supplementation had no influence on these parameters. In conclusion, the present results indicate that dietary amylase and acid protease have beneficial effects on growth performance in chicks given corn‐soybean diet. The dietary inorganic P level affects the growth response to dietary amylase and acid protease supplementation.