Effects of tannic acid supplementation on growth performance, gut health, and meat production and quality of broiler chickens raised in floor pens for 42 days

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of tannic acid (TA) supplementation on growth performance, gut health, antioxidant capacity, gut microbiota, and meat yield and quality in broilers raised for 42 days. A total of 700 one-day-old male broiler chickens (Cobb500) were allocated into 5 treatments with 7 replicates of 20 birds per pen. There were five treatments: 1) tannic acid 0 (TA0: basal diet without TA); 2) tannic acid 0.25 (TA0.25: basal diet+0.25 g/kg TA); 3) tannic acid 0.5 (TA0.5: basal diet+0.5 g/kg TA); 4) tannic acid 1 (TA1: basal diet+1 g/kg TA); and 5) tannic acid 2 (TA2: basal diet+2 g/kg TA). The dietary phases included starter (D 0 to 18; crumble feed), grower (D 18 to 28; pellet feed), and finisher (D 28 to 42; pellet feed). On D 18, the supplementation of TA linearly reduced body weight (BW) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p < 0.05), and on D 28, the supplementation of TA linearly reduced BW, average daily gain (ADG), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.05). Relative mRNA expression of genes related to mucin production (MUC2), tight junction proteins (CLDN2 and JAM2), and nutrient transporters (B0AT1 and SGLT1) was linearly increased by the supplementation of TA (p < 0.05). The supplementation of TA tended to linearly increase the relative abundance of the family Enterobacteriaceae (p = 0.08) and quadratically increased the relative abundance of the families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae in the cecal microbial communities (p < 0.05). On D 36, the ratio of the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes was quadratically reduced by the supplementation of TA (p < 0.05). On D 42, bone mineral density and the lean to fat ratio were linearly decreased by the supplementation of TA (p < 0.05). On D 43, total chilled carcass weight was linearly reduced (p < 0.05), and proportion of leg weight was increased by supplementation of TA (p < 0.05). The supplementation of TA linearly reduced pH of the breast meat (p < 0.05) and linearly increased redness (a*) (p < 0.05). Although the supplementation of TA positively influenced gut health and gut microbiota in the starter/grower phases, it negatively affected overall growth performance, bone health, and meat production in broilers on D 42.

Graded levels of Eimeria infection modulated gut physiology and temporarily ceased the egg production of laying hens at peak production

“…During Eimeria infection, intestinal tight junction barrier would have breached, as indicated by increased intestinal permeability and lesion scores. The upregulation of CLDN-1 during Eimeria infection translates to host trying to maintain the intestinal barrier function and integrity of the intestine ( Choi et al, 2022 ; Liu et al, 2023 ). However, the downregulation of OCLN was uncommon and is different from the previous studies where it was upregulated in pullets ( Sharma et al, 2022a ).…”

Impacts of varying methionine to cysteine supplementation ratios on growth performance, oxidative status, intestinal health, and gene expression of immune response and methionine metabolism in broilers under Eimeria spp. challenge

“…Five corn and soybean meal based grower treatment diets were formulated and fed to the birds from d 14 to 23. For the calculation of the apparent ileal digestibility ( AID ), 0.3% titanium dioxide was added as an indigestible indicator ( Choi et al, 2022 ). The nutrient composition of the grower diets, including total sulfur amino acid (Met + Cys) concentrations, was kept consistent across the treatments to meet the breeder recommendation ( Cobb-Vantress, 2018a ).…”

Water properties in intact wooden breast fillets during refrigerated storage

“…Color values for cranial and caudal area were averaged for statistical analysis. The pH was measured at the cranial area of the fillets on the bone-side using a Thermo Scientific Orion Star A220 pH meter (Thermo Scientific, Pittsburgh, PA) equipped with a spear tipped probe (Thermal Scientific Orion 8163BNWP) ( Choi et al, 2022 ). The pH meter was calibrated with pH 4.0 and pH 7.0 standard buffers before use, and the probe was cleaned with de-ionized water between measurements.…”