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The effect of chromium associated with vitamins and minerals (synthetic or natural ingredients) on broiler meat nutritional quality, subjected to heat stress conditions were evaluated. The 6-week feeding trial was conducted on 120 unsexed 1-day-old Cobb 500 broilers, assigned to 4 treatments and housed in digestibility cages at 32 °C constant temperature. Compared to the control diet (C), the experimental diets were supplemented with 200 µg/kg diet chromium picolinate (Cr), as follows: Cr-AA has 0.25 g ascorbic acid/kg diet; Cr-Zn has 0.025 g zinc/kg diet; Cr-WS has 10 g creeping wood sorrel/kg diet. The results of the study showed that essential amino acids concentrations determined in the thigh meat samples tend to increase in groups supplemented with chromium and ascorbic acid and chromium and zinc, especially sulphur containing amino acids (methionine and cystine) which increased for experimental groups (methionine: 1.25% (C) vs. 1.77% (Cr-AA); 1.58% (Cr-Zn); 1.64% (Cr-WS) and cystine: 0.46% (C) vs. 0.52% (Cr-AA); 0.54% (Cr-WS)). Among the compounds with biological value, vitamin E and lutein & zeaxanthin concentration registered the highest increase for chromium and zinc supplemented group (vitamin E: 35.49 mg/kg (C) vs. 59.05 mg/kg (Cr-Zn) and lutein & zeaxanthin: 0.66 mg/kg (C) vs. 1.36 mg/kg (Cr-Zn)). The peroxidation process was delayed under nutritional supplements influence, the primary oxidation parameters (peroxide value) from the Cr-WS group being significantly lower compared to the control group. The same trend was maintained for the secondary oxidation parameters, the Cr-WS group highlighting reduced values for p-anisidine and TBARS concentration compared to the C group (p-anisidine: 17.22 (C) vs. 9.29 (Cr-WS) and TBARS: 0.15 mg/kg (C) vs. 0.11 mg/kg (Cr-WS)). In conclusion, sulphur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine) concentrations increased for experimental groups, in the thigh meat samples, the liposoluble compounds (vitamin E, lutein & zeaxanthin) concentration registered the highest increase for chromium and zinc supplemented group and the peroxidation process was more pronounced delayed under chromium and wooden sorrel combination.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation with tomato peels (TP) and rosehip meal (RM) on their phytochemicals transfer to the egg, the antioxidant profile and the markers of lipid peroxidation in stored eggs. The experiment was conducted on 42-week-old TETRA SL laying hens, which were assigned to three dietary treatments with 30 birds each: the Control group (CON) received a corn-soybean diet containing 6% flaxseed meal without any by-product addition. Groups TP and RM received Diet CON with additionally 2% TP and 2% RM, respectively. Average daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio and laying percentage were not significantly changed by the dietary treatments. Compared to the other groups, the inclusion of dietary TP led to a significant increase in egg weight (p

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of dietary inclusion of walnut and bilberry leaves (WL and BL), as sources of natural antioxidants in poultry diets, on the enrichment of antioxidant nutrients in the egg yolk and on the susceptibility of the yolk to lipid peroxidation during storage. The experiment was conducted on 32-week-old TETRA SL LL laying hens, which were assigned to three dietary treatments with 30 birds each. Each treatment was replicated 10 times with three chicks per replicate pen. Experimental dietary treatments differed from control diet (C) by addition of 0.5% BL supplement or 1% WL supplement. The phytoadditives were not significant contributors to the productive parameters. The addition of BL and WL in laying hens&rsquo, diets significantly increased the total polyphenol content, and the zinc, lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations in the egg yolks. In regards to the oxidative stability parameters, a significant decrease in the concentrations of primary oxidation products formed in the egg yolk of experimental groups was seen, proving an efficient inhibition effect of the phytoadditives on peroxyl radical formation. A significant correlation was observed between primary oxidation products and total polyphenol content of the egg yolks, where zinc, lutein and zeaxanthin are the bioactive compounds that inhibit the formation of secondary oxidation products.

This study aimed to determine the effect of dietary creeping wood sorrel powder (Oxalis corniculata) and chromium supplemented to broilers (1-42 days) exposed to heat stress, on their performance and on the intestinal and caecal microbiota.Area of study: Ilfov, RomaniaMaterial and methods: The feeding trial was conducted on 60, day-old Cobb 500 broilers, divided equally in two groups, each group with six replicates (5 chicks/ replicate). The broilers were housed in an experimental hall at 32° C constant temperature and 23h light regimen. Unlike the dietary control diet (C), the experimental diet (E) was supplemented with 1% creeping wood sorrel powder and 20 mg chromium picolinate/ kg premix. One bird from each replication was slaughtered on days 28 and 42, and samples of caecal and intestinal content were collected for bacteriological analysis.Main results: The dietary creeping wood sorrel powder and chromium supplements for heat-stressed broilers had no significant influence on their growth performance (1-42 d). Overall, E diet had a beneficial effect on the balance of the caecal microflora; however, in the intestine, E diet had a positive influence on the balance of the intestinal microflora, only for the samples collected at 28 days.Research highlights: Dietary creeping wood sorrel powder and chromium supplements can be an efficient tool for maintaining a proper balance of intestinal microflora in heat-stressed broilers.

The apparent faecal digestibility of the essential amino acids from Ω3 PUFA layer diets and feeding solutions to avoid possible adverse effects of such diets were investigated in two experiments conducted on Lohmann Brown laying hens. Experiment 1 used 72 layers assigned to three groups (C1, E1-1, E2), while experiment 2 used 96 layers assigned to four groups (C2, E1-2, E3, E4). All experimental diets have been enriched in Ω 3 PUFA by supplementing a conventional diet (C1, C2) with 5% flaxseed meal and 2% camelina meal. Diets E2 and E4 had an increased level of Cu (150 mg/kg), diets E3 and E4 were supplemented with 0.0125% enzyme mix, while diets E1-1 and E1-2 were only supplemented with 5% flaxseed meal and 2% camelina meal. The digestibility coefficients of the studied essential amino acids (threonine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, cystine, methionine) were lower (p≤0.05) in groups E1-1 and E2 from experiment 1, than in the control group (C1). In experiment 2, the supplemental enzyme mix (E3) increased (p≤0.05) the digestibility coefficients of phenylalanine, lysine, cystine and methionine, compared to the diet with camelina and flaxseed meals (E1-2). The simultaneous inclusion of copper and enzyme mix in the E4 diet increased (p≤0.05) lysine digestibility compared to group E1-2 and sulphur amino acids digestibility, compared to the other groups (C2, E1-2 and E3). In both experiments, only the feed conversion ratio was different (p≤0.05) in favour of the control groups (C1 and C2), compared to the other groups.

Poultry meat is a valuable source of nutrients and the enrichment with health-promoting substances such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) is an important factor for consumers’ choice. Camelina meal (Camelina sativa) is an animal feedstuff used to achieve this goal, but the administration of n-3 PUFA-enriched diets in broiler nutrition can accelerate the oxidative processes in meat leading to a decreased quality of final product. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the organic Cr as chromium picolinate (CrPic) on meat quality, fatty acid profile of fat and oxidative stability of meat from broilers fed supplemented dietary Camelina meal. An experiment was conducted on 240 Ross 308 broiler chicken aged 14 days which were assigned to 6 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. Within the treatment arrangement two concentrations of Camelina meal (0% and 3%) and three concentrations of Cr3+ (0, 200 and 400 μg/kg) were used. Dietary treatments were: (1) Control diet (C) containing a corn–soybean diet with no added Camelina meal or Cr3+; (2) a C diet containing an additional 200 μg/kg of Cr3+ as CrPic; (3) a C diet containing an additional 400 μg/kg of Cr3+ as CrPic; (4) a C diet containing an additional 3% Camelina meal; (5) diet 2 containing an additional 3% Camelina meal; (6) diet 3 containing an additional 3% Camelina meal. Chromium supplementation significantly (P

We investigated changes in nitrogen metabolism and chemical, fatty acid (FA) and amino acid (AA) composition in tissues (longissimus dorsi (LD) and semitendinosus (ST) muscles, heart, spleen, liver and cecum) following the dietary addition of extruded linseed and walnut meal (50:50 mix). Plasma creatinine and urea nitrogen were determined as well. Two trials were designed using barrows (five replicates) allotted in two groups [(control, (SM) and experimental, (LEW))] in metabolic cages. The experimental diet rich in n-3 FA led to a significant increase of retained nitrogen (&gt, 8.09% in the LEW group). The biological value of feed protein was 14.8% higher in the LEW group than in the SM group. LD muscles from the SM group and liver from the LEW group had greater nitrogen contents, whereas the heart and spleen had lower concentrations of nitrogen in the LEW group. Diet had a pronounced effect on n-3 FA, particularly on &alpha, linolenic fatty acid (ALA) (p &lt, 0.0001). The highest levels of ALA were recorded in the cecum (&gt, 6.06 times in LEW) and heart (&gt, 5.44 times in LEW). The highest level of lysine was noticed in the LD muscle (&gt, 2.1% in SM). An n-3-rich diet significantly reduced the amount of nitrogen excreted, greater than 40% nitrogen was retained, thus improving the meat composition.

The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional quality of four botanical mixtures (AFC): AFC 1 (containing red corn, pumpkin pulp and marigold), AFC 2 (containing alfalfa meal, pumpkin pulp and marigold), AFC 3 (containing kale, alfalfa meal, marigold and spinach leaves), AFC 4 (containing buckthorn, red corn, pumpkin pulp and marigold), in terms of proximate analysis (crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, ash), amino acid (AA) profile, vitamin E concentration and lutein and zeaxanthin content, in order to determine the potential of AFCs as feed additives in laying hens nutrition. The crude protein content for the analysed botanical mixtures ranged between 9.07-18.18% DM, and crude fiber between 10.41-30.83% DM. The amino acid profile of the mixture AFC 4 revealed a content of limiting essential amino acids required for laying hens: lysine 5.719% CP, methionine 1.058% CP and threonine 4.415% CP. The highest content of lutein and zeaxanthin was found in the mixture AFC 4 (66.659 mg/100 g), which also had the highest amount of vitamin E (640.93 mg/kg). With regard to safety of the botanical mixtures, lead and cadmium concentrations were determined. Concentration of lead ranged from 0.28-0.75 µg/g DM and 0.06-0.09 µg/g DM for concentration of cadmium, which was within the legislation of maximal limits of EU regulations. It can be concluded that the botanical mixture AFC 4 had the highest concentration of lutein, zeaxanthin and vitamin E, with an adequate content of essential amino acids. Furthermore, all four botanical mixtures had high amounts of xantophylls and should be tested in laying hens trials in order to establish their effects on lutein and zeaxanthin concentration in egg yolk.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of chromium picolinate (CrPic) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and protein and lipid quality of five anatomical parts in growing pigs. The 30-day study was conducted on eight castrated Topigs growing male pigs, with an initial bodyweight of 17.16 ± 0.62 kg. The pigs were assigned to two groups (C, E), housed in individual metabolic cages, and fed on conventional diets with 17.80% crude protein (CP) and 3078 kcal/kg metabolizable energy (ME). The diet of E was supplemented with 200 ppm CrPic. Samples of ingesta and faeces were collected in three balance periods of five days each. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected, all pigs were slaughtered, and meat (tenderloin, loin, ham, shoulder, and belly) samples were collected. No significant differences of productive or plasma parameters were noticed. The results of the balance study showed that CrPic did not influence the digestibility of nitrogen, but the digestibility of fat was significantly decreased for group E. The nutritional quality of the collected samples was evaluated for proximate analysis. The tenderloin and ham samples had increased protein concentrations compared with C group. For belly and ham, the fat concentrations decreased significantly. As a result of this observation, amino acids and fatty acid profiles were analysed and a significant improvement were determined for E regarding essential amino acids. The conclusion of the study was that CrPic had positive effects on protein and fat metabolism and the meat had functional food attributes. Keywords: Amino acids, biochemical profile, chromium picolinate, digestibility, fatty acids, pork