Effects of Dietary Lycopene on the Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Meat Quality, Intestine Histomorphology, and Cecal Microbiota in Broiler Chickens.

Simple Summary: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and the Commission on Food Additives recognize lycopene as a Class A nutrient, but relatively few systematic studies have been conducted on lycopene regulation of antioxidant and meat quality improvement and intestine microbiota in poultry. This study investigated the dietary lycopene from the effects on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, intestine histomorphology, and cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. Compared with the control group, the dietary lycopene increased the average daily gain and decreased the feed conversion ratio in the experimental groups; the drip loss_24h were decreased in breast muscles in the group treated with 20 mg/kg dietary lycopene; the jejunum villous height was increased in the groups treated with 20 mg/kg dietary lycopene; 13,223 OTUs were identified, each representing a microbial species, and the control group; the Unclassified-f-Ruminococcaceae relative abundance was increased in the groups treated with 20 mg/kg dietary lycopene. In this study, the 20 mg/kg dietary lycopene improved the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, intestine histomorphology, and cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. This study provided a theoretical basis for the application of lycopene in poultry production. The experiment aimed to investigate the effects of dietary lycopene on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, intestine histomorphology, and cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. We randomly divided five hundred and seventy-six one-day-old male broilers into four groups each with six replicates and 24 chickens in each replicate. The control group (CG) was fed the basal diet, and the other groups were given powder lycopene of 10, 20, and 30 mg/kg lycopene (LP10, LP20, and LP30, respectively). Compared with the control group, (1) the dietary lycopene increased (p = 0.001) the average daily gain and decreased (p = 0.033) the feed conversion ratio in the experimental groups; (2) the glutathione peroxidase enzyme contents in LP20 were higher (p =< 0.001) in myocardium; (3) the crude protein contents were higher (p = 0.007) in the group treated with 30 mg/kg dietary lycopene; (4) the jejunum villous height was higher (p = 0.040) in LP20; (5) the Unclassified-f-Ruminococcaceae relative abundance was significantly higher (p = 0.043) in LP20. In this study, adding 20 mg/kg dietary lycopene to the broiler chickens' diets improved the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, intestine histomorphology, and cecal microbiota in broiler chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]