Journal article

Publication year: 2015

Pages: 2404-2413

Journal: Poultry Science

Volume number: 94

Issue number: 10

ISSN: 0032-5791

Open access status: Hybrid

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pev191

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
This study investigated the hypothesis that dietary fats rich in lauric (C-12) and myristic acid (C-14) increase broiler performance and that the underlying mechanism involves antimicrobial effects on gut bacteria and changes in gut morphology. One hundred eighty 1-day-old Cobb-500 broilers were allotted to 3 groups. All groups received a basal diet consisting of maize, wheat, soybean meal, and a fat source (4.5, 7.0, 7.6, and 8.0% of fat product in the diet during d 1 to 9, 10 to 17, 18 to 27, and 28 to 35, respectively) until 35 d of age. The diet of the control group contained a fat with 67% of oleic and linoleic acid and 1.4% of C-12 and C-14 of total fatty acids, that of the esterified lauric and myristic acid (ELA) group a fat with 33% of esterified C-12 and C-14 and that of the free lauric and myristic acid (FLA) group a fat with 31% of both esterified and free (1:1) C-12 and C-14 (6 replicates/treatment, 10 birds/replicate). Gain and feed consumption did not differ between groups, but feed: gain was lower in FLA group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Carcass weight, liver weight, triglyceride content of liver and muscle, and muscle cholesterol were similar between groups; however, breast muscle weight was higher in the FLA than in the control group (P < 0.05). The villus height: crypt depth ratio of the duodenal wall did not differ between groups, but in the jejunum, it was lower in the FLA group as compared to the control group (P < 0.05). DNA copy numbers of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria, Enterobacteria, Escherichia coli, and Campylobacter jejuni in jejunal digesta were similar among groups. The study shows that dietary fats rich in free C-12 and C-14 improved feed: gain and breast muscle yield, but the observed effects could not be conclusively explained based on the parameters measured. The decreased jejunal villi: crypt ratio may point to changes in gut protein or cell turnover.

Harvard Citation style: Zeitz, J., Fennhoff, J., Kluge, H., Stangl, G. and Eder, K. (2015) Effects of dietary fats rich in lauric and myristic acid on performance, intestinal morphology, gut microbes, and meat quality in broilers, Poultry Science, 94(10), pp. 2404-2413. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pev191

APA Citation style: Zeitz, J., Fennhoff, J., Kluge, H., Stangl, G., & Eder, K. (2015). Effects of dietary fats rich in lauric and myristic acid on performance, intestinal morphology, gut microbes, and meat quality in broilers. Poultry Science. 94(10), 2404-2413. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pev191