Dietary glutamine improves meat quality, skeletal muscle antioxidant capacity and glutamine metabolism in broilers under acute heat stress

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of glutamine (Gln) on meat quality, skeletal muscle antioxidant capacity and Gln metabolism in heat-stressed broilers. Three hundred 42-day-old broilers were randomly divided into five groups: a control group (23 ± 1°C), which was fed basal diet, and four experimental groups (34 ± 1°C), supplemented with 0, 5, 10, and 20 g Gln/kg of basal diet. The experiment lasted for 24 h. Compared with the control group, acute heat stress caused a significant reduction (p