Growth performance, organ weight, and plasma metabolites in broiler chickens fed corn-soybean meal diet containing berry pomaces and fed without or with multienzymes supplement.

This study evaluated effects of feeding low-bush wild blueberry (LBP) and organic American cranberry (CRP) pomaces without or with multienzyme supplement (ENZ) on growth performance, organ weight and plasma metabolites in broiler chickens. Nonenzyme-fed (no-ENZ: n = 1,575) and enzyme-fed (ENZ: n = 1,575) day-old male Cobb500 broilers were placed in floor pens (45 chicks/pen) and allocated to five corn-soybean meal-based diets: a basal diet supplemented with either bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD, 55 mg/kg), 0.5 or 1% of CRP or LBP in a 2 × 5 factorial design for 35-day experiment. Body weight (BW), feed intake (FI) and mortality were recorded whereas BW gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. Birds were sampled at days 21 and 35 for organ weights and plasma metabolites. There were no interactions between diet and ENZ on any parameter (P > 0.05) and no effect of ENZ on overall (d 0-35) growth performance and organ weights (P > 0.05). Birds fed BMD were heavier (P < 0.05) at d 35 and had better overall FCR than berry-supplemented birds. Birds fed 1% LBP had poor FCR than birds fed 0.5% CRP. Birds fed LBP exhibited heavier liver (P < 0.05) than birds fed BMD or 1% CRP. The highest plasma concentrations of aspartate transaminase (AST), creatine kinase (CK) at d 28 and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) at d 35 were found in ENZ-fed birds (P < 0.05). At d 28, birds fed 0.5% LBP showed higher plasma AST and CK concentrations (P < 0.05). However, CRP feeding resulted in a lower plasma CK level compared with BMD feeding (P < 0.05). The lowest cholesterol level was detected in 1% CRP-fed birds. In conclusion, this study showed no ENZ effects to potentiate berry pomaces on the overall growth performance of broilers (P < 0.05. However, plasma profiles revealed the potential of ENZ to modulate the metabolism of pomace-fed broilers. LBP increased BW during the starter phase, while CRP increased BW during the grower phase.

Research Note: Effects of supplementing cranberry and blueberry pomaces on meat quality and antioxidative capacity in broilers.

Cranberry and blueberry pomaces are rich in antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds. They have been identified as potential antibiotic alternatives in animal feed, but their antioxidative capacity for maintaining or improving the meat quality in broilers is not well documented. This study was to determine whether cranberry and wild blueberry pomaces in diets could positively influence the broiler meat quality. A total of 3,150 broilers were randomly allotted to 10 dietary treatments with bacitracin methylene disalicylate, wild cranberry pomace (CRP) (0.5 and 1% of the basal diet), and wild blueberry pomace (BLP) (0.5 and 1% of the basal diet) alone or in combination with a mixture of feed enzymes. The results showed that supplementation with the CRP or BLP did not affect meat lightness and yellowness, while the deeper red meat (higher a∗ values) was observed in the birds receiving the diet containing 0.5% BLP against those in CRP treatments (P = 0.015). In addition, inclusion of CRP or BLP in the diet did not change meat texture and proximate composition (moisture, protein, fat, ash) irrespective of pomace concentrations. Although there were no obvious effects of CRP or BLP supplementation on meat antioxidant capacity and the incidence of myopathies (P > 0.05), the upward trend of antioxidant capacity and less severity of woody breast were observed in birds fed with 0.5% CRP. Furthermore, supplementation of 0.5 or 1.0% CRP without the enzyme resulted in higher mRNA levers of Nrf, Gpx2, and HO-1 (P < 0.05). Taken together, 0.5% CRP supplementation without the enzyme could potentially maintain meat quality and attenuate the severity of woody breast.