FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2020, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (17): 17-22.doi: 10.7506/spkx1002-6630-20190727-371

• Basic Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Taurine on Growth Performance, Meat Quality and Muscle Antioxidant Function in Broilers

HAN Hongli, ZHANG Jingfei, SHEN Mingming, HE Jiale, LIU Jia, YANG Peixuan, WANG Tian   

  1. (College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)
  • Online:2020-09-15 Published:2020-09-16

Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary taurine (TAU) on the growth performance, and meat quality and antioxidant capacity of breast muscle in broilers. A total of 384 1-day-old ‘Arbor Acres’ broilers were randomly divided into 4 groups, with 12 replicates of 8 birds each. The broilers in the control group were fed a basal diet, and those in the experimental groups were fed the same diet supplemented with 0.25%, 0.5% and 0.75% TAU (on the basis of the mass of the diet), respectively. The whole experiment lasted for 42 d, which was divided into early (from day 1 to day 21) and late (from day 22 to day 42) stages. The results showed that compared with the control group, TAU could significantly improve average daily gain (ADG) during the early stage, average daily feed intake (ADFI) during the late stage (P < 0.05), and ADG and ADFI (P < 0.05) during the whole administration period. Moreover, dietary addition of 0.25% and 0.5% TAU could significantly increase ADFI during the early stage (P < 0.05) and reduce feed conversion ratio during the whole administration period (P < 0.05). TAU could significantly elevate the pH of breast muscle at 24 hours after slaughter (P < 0.05), and dietary addition of 0.5% TAU could significantly reduce the drip loss rate and cooking loss rate, as well as yellowness (P < 0.05). In addition, dietary taurine supplementation could significantly increase glutathione peroxidase activity (P < 0.05), and reduce malondialdehyde (MDA) content (P < 0.05), as well as increase the gene expression of phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (P < 0.05). According to the above results, dietary TAU supplementation could improve the growth performance and meat quality and antioxidant capacity of breast muscle in broilers, being the most effective at an addition level of 0.5%, which may provide reference for research aiming to improve meat quality and health.

Key words: taurine; broiler; growth performance; meat quality; muscle antioxidant capacity

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