The effects of quercetin dietary supplementation on broiler growth performance, meat quality, and oxidative stability

Abstract

The present study was conducted to describe the effects of quercetin dietary supplementation, at levels of 0.5 and 1 g/kg of feed, on growth performance, internal organ weights, meat quality, and meat oxidative stability during storage of broiler chickens reared from hatching to 42 d of age. Body weight and cumulative feed intake were not affected by quercetin supplementation (P > 0.05). However, poorer feed conversion ratio values were obtained with increasing levels of dietary quercetin (P-linear < 0.05). Relative heart weight was significantly higher for chickens that were given quercetin in comparison with the controls (P < 0.05). The rest of the internal organ weights measured (liver, spleen, and fat pad) and meat quality traits were not affected by dietary supplementation with quercetin, except for meat lightness and redness. Meat oxidative stability, expressed as nanograms of malondialdehyde per gram of meat, was improved (P < 0.05) during refrigerated storage for 3 and 9 d, when birds were fed quercetin at a level of 1 g/kg of feed. It is concluded that the incorporation of quercetin in broiler diets could prolong meat shelf life by reducing the rate of lipid oxidation, and increase relative heart weight, potentially contributing to improved animal health.

Effect of turmeric powder (Curcuma longa L.) and ascorbic acid on antioxidant capacity and oxidative status in rabbit burgers after cooking

“…This trend was reported in different meat products derived from pork meat (Rey et al, 2005;Salminen et al, 2006;Bastida et al, 2009), poultry and beef (Nam et al, 2004;Mitsumoto et al, 2005;Naveena et al, 2013). Similar results were also observed in raw samples derived after natural antioxidant dietary supplementation (Botsoglou et al, 2002;Goliomytis et al, 2014;Nkukwana et al, 2014). Considering both formulations supplemented with antioxidant powders and the storage time, the results indicated that as the antioxidant capacities decreased the lipid oxidation of cooked burgers increased, mainly when the correlations are considered in raw burgers.…”

Dietary inclusion effects of phytochemicals as growth promoters in animal production

“…In these studies, most of the phytochemicals (plants extracts: derived from thyme, oregano, agronomy, clove, lemon, balm, red pepper, black cumin seed, Artemisia leaves, Macleaya cordata ; essential oils: thyme, cinnamon, oregano, anise, citrus peel and rosemary) were added in each of the three main production phases, and primarily commercial extracts of plants (leaves) and herbs were used as feed additives. Some studies evaluated the addition of simple phytochemicals, such as isoflavone, quercetin, naringin, hesperidin and piperine [32, 97–99]. …”

“…Some studies evaluated the addition of simple phytochemicals, such as isoflavone, quercetin, naringin, hesperidin and piperine [32, 97–99]. …”

Effects of culinary treatments on lipids quality, proximate composition and mineral content of broilers meat fed with rations supplemented with powders of Camellia sinensis, Annona muricata and Zingiber officinale

“…According to Barroeta (2007), feed supplementation with α-tocopherol in animals increased the deposition of lipoic acid as an increase in its concentration and the level of vitamin E in the muscle depends on its dietary level, the duration of the supplementing period, the fiber type distribution and on a metabolic characteristic. Previous studies revealed that quercetin and α-tocopherol were able to attenuate lipid peroxidation process in birds (Goliomytis et al, 2014). Haak et al (2009) showed that α-tocopherol alone or in combination with rosemary and green tea extract retarded retards lipid oxidation in meat.…”