Abstract
This study investigated the effects of encapsulated citral (CIT) and cinnamaldehyde (CIN) on growth performance, intestinal morphology and meat quality in broilers. A total of 320 0-day-age male broilers (Cobb 500) were allocated 32 pens with 8 pens per treatment. The treatments included: 1) Corn-wheat-SBM basal diet (negative control); 2) basal diet with 30 ppm avilamycin premix (positive control); 3) basal diet with 50 ppm encapsulated CIT and CIN (CCL); 4) basal diet with 100 ppm encapsulated CIT and CIN (CCH). There were no significant differences between treatments in growth performance (P > 0.05) at each feeding stage. Additionally, birds had similar relative organ weights of heart, liver, spleen and bursa (P > 0.05). The higher ratios of villus height to crypt depth (VCR; P ≤ 0.05) were detected in broilers fed either CCL or CCH, with an average being 14.67 and 15.13 in the duodenum, and 15.13 and 13.58 in the jejunum, respectively. Regarding meat quality, a higher pH value (pH = 6.21) in the breast was observed in 24-h post mortem chickens fed CCL (P ≤ 0.05). No significant differences of pH were detected in the breast in 96-h post mortem birds. The breast color (redness, yellowness, and lightness) in either 24-h or 96-h post mortem chickens was not significantly different among treatments (P > 0.05). No change in purge loss (%) was observed in the breast after 48 h. The severity of white striping (WS) or woody meat (WB) was higher in the positive control (WS = 0.58; WB = 0.15) than in other treatments (P ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, dietary treatment with encapsulated CIT and CIN improved gut morphology and meat quality of broilers by increasing VCR in the small intestine and reducing the severity of WS/WB in the breast, respectively, without affecting growth performance.
Protein source and dietary structure influence growth performance, gut morphology, and hindgut fermentation characteristics in broilers
