Effects of enhancing vitamin D status by 25-hydroxycholecalciferol supplementation, alone or in combination with calcium and phosphorus, on sternum mineralisation and breast meat quality in broilers

Abstract

1. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of improving vitamin D status in broiler diets by supplementary 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25OHD), alone or in combination with calcium (Ca) and available phosphorus (aP), on live performance, sternum mineralisation and breast meat quality in broilers. 2. A total of 936 1-d-old Ross 308 broilers were used in the study. After gender determination at the hatchery, chicks from each sex were randomly distributed into three dietary treatments. The following dietary treatments were used in the experiment from hatch to 38 d: (1) A control diet formulated to meet all of the nutrient requirements of broiler chicks according to the management guide; (2) The control diet supplemented with 18.7-15.0 µg/kg of 25OHD; and (3) The control diet supplemented with 18.7-15.0 µg/kg of 25OHD plus Ca + aP. 3. Improvement in vitamin D status by 25OHD supplementation, alone or in combination with Ca and aP, had no effect on body weight and feed conversion ratio of broilers. 4. The serum 25OHD concentration significantly increased with 25OHD and 25OHD plus Ca + aP supplementation (P < 0.05), whereas the ionised Ca and Mg concentrations remained unchanged. 5. Sternum absolute weight, ash content and the concentrations of Ca and P significantly increased (P < 0.01) with supplementation of 25OHD, alone or in combination with Ca + aP. 6. Supplemental 25OHD, alone or in combination with Ca + aP, slightly increased pH (P = 0.05) and decreased (P < 0.01) squeezable water loss in breast meat, whereas it had no significant effect on lightness, yellowness and sarcoplasmic protein solubility. 7. In conclusion, the results suggested that enhancing vitamin D status by 25OHD supplementation alone or in combination with Ca + aP may improve sternum structure and mineral accretion. Furthermore, supplemental 25OHD, even in a nutritionally complete diet, may offer an effective way to improve protein solubility in female broilers.

Reduction of calcium levels in rations supplemented with vitamin D3 or 25-OH-D3 for broilers

“…The vitamin D source did not alter the performance of birds in the different evaluated periods. Bozkurt et al (2017) also did not observe improvement in WG at 10, 24, and 38 days when they used 25-OH-D 3 as a vitamin D source. Contrary to what was observed in this experiment, Yarger et al (1995) and Fritts and Waldroup (2003) found that the use of 25-OH-D 3 provided an increase in WG of broiler chickens.…”

“…On the other hand, the fact that rations present reduced Ca levels may have prevented interaction with P in the gastrointestinal tract, which would reduce the availability of this mineral as observed by Plumstead et al (2008). However, vitamin D 3 increased serum P levels in comparison with 25-OH-D 3 , contrary to the results observed by Bozkurt et al (2017). Studies have suggested that the effects of 25-OH-D 3 on dietary P use (Applegate et al, 2003) are not entirely clear .…”

“…This isoform is highly regulated by Ca and P homeostasis through calciotrophic hormones and the active form 1,25-(OH) 2 -D 3 . In a recent study, Bozkurt et al (2017) observed that 25-OH-D 3 supplementation increases vitamin D status in broilers in diets that meet the mineral requirement. On the other hand, Ca-deficient diets, as in this study, may increase the demand for vitamin D, stimulating the enzymatic action in the kidneys, via parathormone (PTH), favoring the conversion of 25-OH-D 3 , which may have led to reduction in serum levels with a reduction of 30% of the dietary Ca requirement.…”

“…The effects of dietary supplementation with 25-OH-D 3 in rations have been reported to improve muscle protein synthesis and broiler meat quality (Vignale et al, 2015;Bozkurt et al, 2017). On the other hand, there is a shortage of research demonstrating supplementation with different vitamin D sources in diets with Ca reduction on meat quality and carcass characteristics of poultry.…”

Vitamin D Metabolism and Profiling in Veterinary Species

“…Vitamin D is highly involved in both intestinal and uterine calcium transport, therefore 1,25(OH) 2 D markedly fluctuates with the ovulatory cycle of birds [166,167]. Consequently, dietary supplementation of vitamin D is vital and supplementation with 25(OH)D3 has shown some benefits over supplementation with vitamin D3 [168], including increased cellular immune response, improved mineral deposition in bones of broilers [169] and improved sternum structure and mineral accretion [170]. Hutton et al (2014) have demonstrated that supplementation with 25(OH)D3 improves breast meat yield in broilers by stimulating skeletal muscle satellite cells [171].…”