Effects of Supplementation with Dried Neem Leaf Extract on Lipid Peroxidation and Antioxidant Enzyme mRNA Expression in the Pectoralis Major Muscle of Broiler Chickens

The Interaction between Feed Bioactive Compounds and Chicken Genome

Consumer demand for high quality and safe foods that will have a positive impact on their health has increased in recent years. Today, it is possible to meet those demands by combining the genetic potential of domestic animals and applying different feeding strategies. Nutrigenomics is one of the "omics" sciences that studies the interaction between nutrients and the genome together with their influence on metabolic and physiological processes in the body. While nutrition of domestic animals is solely based on studying the influence of nutrients on animal health and production traits, nutrigenomics integrates the fields of nutrition, genomics, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. By understanding the molecular relationships between different forms and/or concentrations of nutrients in feed and genes, it is possible to answer the question of how small changes in the diet of farm animals can produce a quality product with positive effects on human health. The aim of this article is to describe how the manipulation of adding different nutrients in the feed affects the expression of different genes in chicken and consequently alters their phenotype.

Fish oil, Azadirachta indica and Curcuma longa improve feed efficiency and meat quality of the broiler chicken.. [DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2074785/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

Total 288 Ross-308 male broiler chicks were randomly distributed in a complete block design at 2×3 (Two different phytochemicals, i.e., Azadirachta indica, and Curcuma longa at three different levels, i.e., 0, 0.063, and 0.125% of the basal diet) factorial arrangement. Final live weight (FLW), average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency (FE), carcass characteristics, cardio-pulmonary morphometry, haemato-biochemical indices, gut morphology, ileal nutrient digestibility, tibia morphometry, meat quality and fatty acid profile were measured. Results indicated that, supplementation of Azadirachta indica leaf meal (AILM) decreased the FLW, ADFI, ADG, gizzard weight, right ventricular diameter and increased the FE, tibia calcium content, left ventricular weight and the ratio of right and left ventricle. The AILM substantially increased the malonaldehyde concentration in the Pectoralis major muscle of the broiler chicken at 7th and day 14th days. The Curcuma longa powder (CLP) decreased the FLW, ADFI and ADG without affecting the FE and increased the weight of right ventricle, left ventricle and tibia length. The AILM and CLP interacted to decrease the ADFI, total saturated fatty acid content and increase the FE, ω-6, ω-9, total unsaturated fatty acids, total poly-unsaturated fatty acids and the ratio of total unsaturated: saturated fatty acid in the breast muscle of the broiler chicken. It was concluded that Azadirachta indica and Curcuma longa in combination with fish oil improved the FE and meat quality of the broiler chicken at the expense of ADFI and ADG.

Effects of a Dried Neem Leaf Extract on the Growth Performance, Meat Yield and Meat Quality in Skeletal Muscle of Broiler Chickens Under High-Temperature Conditions

We aimed to examine the effects of cyclical high ambient temperature (HT) and dried Neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf extract (DNE) supplementation on the growth performance, muscle lipid peroxidation level, and muscle drip loss of broiler chickens. Twenty-four 15-day old broiler chickens (Chunky strain ROSS 308) were divided into four treatment groups that were fed diets with or without 2.0% DNE under thermoneutral (25 ± 1°C) or cyclical HT (35 ± 1°C for 8 h/day) conditions. Supplementation of DNE did not affect the growth performance of the chicks, but HT reduced their feed intake, the weights of breast muscle and heart. In addition, supplementation with DNE ameliorated the negative effects of cyclical HT on feed intake and breast muscle mass. Furthermore, cyclical HT increased the malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and drip loss over 48 h of storage of the breast muscle, and these effects were ameliorated by DNE. Collectively, we conclude that dietary supplementation with DNE reduces the muscle MDA concentration and drip loss of broiler chickens kept under HT conditions.