Effects of dietary distillers dried grains with solubles concentrations on meat quality and antioxidant status and capacity of broiler chickens

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) on the meat quality and antioxidant status and capacity of broiler chickens. One-dayold male broiler chickens (720) were assigned to 6 treatments, with 4 replicates per treatment. Birds were fed diets formulated to contain 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25% corn-based DDGS, respectively, for a period of 6 wk. The addition of DDGS influenced the general meat quality by affecting the b* (yellowness) values, cooking loss, and shear force (P < 0.01). Moreover, the fatty acid profiles of the breast and thigh were affected by DDGS levels. In particular, no significant difference was found in saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (P > 0.05), but feeding DDGS significantly increased the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (P < 0.01). In breast meat and liver tissue, total superoxide dismutase activity decreased significantly between birds fed the control diet and the DDGS diets (P < 0.05). In the liver, glutathione peroxidase activity was similar to that of the control group in the diet with 15% added DDGS (P < 0.01). The malondialdehyde production of breast muscle was not affected (P > 0.05) by dietary DDGS concentrations; however, liver malondialdehyde production was influenced significantly (P < 0.01) by dietary DDGS levels. Overall, including DDGS at concentrations up to 15% in the broiler diet is feasible and can result in ideal meat quality. ©2012 Poultry Science Association, Inc.