Maternal energy restriction by low starch or fat affects carcase trait, meat quality and muscle antioxidative properties in Arbor Acres broilers

Figures & data

Figure 1. Daily feed and energy allotments provided for hens from 25 to 40 weeks. ME: Metabolizable energy.

Table 1. Composition and nutrient levels of broiler breeder diets (g kg⁻¹ or MJ kg⁻¹ as-fed).

Items	Treatments^a
	T1	T2	T3	T4
Ingredients
Corn	620.40	480.00	379.80	180.00
Soybean meal	261.00	292.00	310.80	349.80
Soybean oil	20.00	–	–	–
Sodium Chloride	1.70	1.70	1.70	1.70
Dicalcium Phosphate	15.00	16.00	16.50	18.00
Limestone	77.00	76.00	76.00	75.00
dl-Methionine	0.60	0.80	0.90	1.20
Choline Chloride	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00
Vitamins + microelements^b	3.30	3.30	3.30	3.30
Rice hull powder	–	129.20	210.00	370.00
Nutrient values^c
ME	11.70	9.36	8.19	5.85
Crude protein	170.10	170.24	169.90	169.66
Crude fat	43.79	20.43	17.68	12.23
Starch	386.96	302.54	242.18	121.86
Crude fibre	2.28	7.98	11.53	18.56
Linolenic acid	1.50	1.20	0.99	0.57
Lysine	8.50	8.92	9.18	9.74
Methionine and cysteine	6.39	6.41	6.38	6.42
Calcium	33.03	33.04	33.23	33.40
Phosphorus	6.58	6.62	6.67	6.75
Available phosphorus	4.47	4.56	4.58	4.74
Potassium	6.40	6.52	6.56	6.65

ME: Metabolizable energy.

^a T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹).

^b The premix provided the following (per kilogram): retinol 3.83 mg, cholecalciferol 0.06 mg, α-tocopherol 21 mg, menadione 1.5 mg, cyanocobalamin 0.012 mg, thiamine 2.0 mg, biotin 0.20 mg, folic acid 1.2 mg, nicotinic acid 35 mg, pantothenic acid 12 mg, pyridoxine 4.5 mg, riboflavin 9 mg, copper (from CuSO₄·5H₂O) 8 mg, iodine (from KI) 1.0 mg, iron (from FeSO₄·7H₂O) 80 mg, manganese (from MnSO₄·H₂O) 100 mg, selenium (from Na₂SeO₃) 0.30 mg, zinc (from ZnSO₄·H₂O) 80 mg.

^c The value in parentheses indicates the analysed value. Others are calculated values according to the Tables of Feed Composition and Nutritive Values in China in this study.

Figure 2. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on egg components; abcd means with different letters are significantly different (p < .05); T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹); ME: Metabolizable energy.

Figure 3. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on the average daily feed intake (ADFI) of broilers; ab means with different letters are significantly different (p<.05); T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹); ME: Metabolizable energy.

Table 2. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on egg weight, body weight, muscle weight and abdominal fat weight of offspring.

Items	Treatments^1				SEM	p Value
	T1	T2	T3	T4
Egg weight, g	67.61^a	65.79^b	65.23^bc	64.25^c	0.89	.02
Birth weight, g	48.78^a	45.72^b	43.27^c	41.81^d	0.23	.03
28 d
Body weight, kg	1.27	1.21	1.18	1.23	0.07	.89
Breast muscle, g kg^−1	142.90	143.10	143.00	139.50	7.20	.07
Thigh muscle, g kg^−1	129.20^b	141.50^a	129.50^b	120.20^c	3.80	<.01
Abdominal fat, g kg^−1	11.70	11.60	11.80	12.00	0.40	.29
49 d
Body weight, kg	2.98^b	3.25^a	3.08^ab	2.90^b	0.05	.04
Breast muscle, g kg^−1	185.70	195.70	196.80	188.30	11.60	.64
Thigh muscle, g kg^−1	161.20	163.60	164.00	161.20	10.80	.98
Abdominal fat, g kg^−1	15.50^b	16.50^ab	17.60^a	16.00^ab	0.60	.04

ME: Metabolizable energy; SEM: Standard error of mean.

¹T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹).

^a–dValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at p< .05.

Table 3. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on muscle composition of offspring (g kg⁻¹).

Items	Treatments^1				SEM	p Value
	T1	T2	T3	T4
28 d
Breast muscle
IMF	15.2^c	16.7^b	17.0^ab	17.4^a	2.1	<.01
Protein	241.5	246.3	242.4	233.2	8.5	.06
Moisture	731.2	727.0	729.0	726.0	14.8	.28
Thigh muscle
IMF	36.5	38.1	38.3	38.5	3.8	.45
Protein	208.4	211.1	211.0	207.8	8.2	.10
Moisture	743.2	744.1	748.0	743.0	8.2	.57
49 d
Breast muscle
IMF	8.6	9.1	9.2	9.4	1.9	.43
Protein	242.5	246.3	243.4	238.5	11.7	.61
Moisture	722.3	720.1	721.1	721.5	18.6	.54
Thigh muscle
IMF	45.2^c	47.2^bc	48.3^b	52.6^a	3.2	.02
Protein	211.1	219.0	217.1	209.3	10.5	.18
Moisture	728.3	722.4	721.0	721.1	11.3	.15

SEM: Standard error of mean; IMF: Intramuscular fat.

¹T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹).

^a–cValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at p < .05.

Table 4. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on meat quality traits of breast muscle and thigh muscle of 49-d-old offspring.

Items	Treatments^1				SEM	p Value
	T1	T2	T3	T4
Breast muscle
Drip loss, g kg^−1	34.10	32.00	32.30	34.20	2.70	.09
Shear force, N	24.43	24.21	24.29	24.26	5.94	.12
pH24h	5.82	5.80	5.83	5.70	0.11	.06
L*	44.09	44.31	44.33	44.34	1.21	.37
a*	9.66^a	9.97^a	9.69^a	7.80^b	0.62	.02
b*	11.66^b	12.07^a	12.05^a	12.04^a	0.59	.01
Thigh muscle
Drip loss, g kg^−1	29.90^a	24.00^b	24.20^b	30.40^a	1.90	<.01
Shear force, N	26.87	25.89	26.24	26.11	4.17	.06
pH24h	6.68	6.80	6.79	6.73	0.14	.08
L*	42.30^b	43.18^a	43.29^a	43.30^a	0.49	<.01
a*	10.89^b	11.88^a	11.80^a	10.00^b	0.57	<.01
b*	10.09^b	12.90^a	12.82^a	12.54^a	0.62	<.01

SEM: Standard error of mean; L*: Lightness; a*: Redness; b*: Yellowness.

¹ T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹).

^a–cValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at p < .05.

Table 5. Effects of maternal dietary energy level on breast and thigh muscle antioxidative properties of 49-d-old offspring.

Items	Treatments^1				SEM	p Value
	T1	T2	T3	T4
Breast muscle
T-SOD, U mg^−1 prot	11.17^b	13.03^a	13.01^a	10.59^c	0.53	<.01
GSH-Px, U mg^−1 prot	33.84^b	42.58^a	42.09^a	23.94^c	1.48	<.01
MDA, nmol mg^−1 prot	4.00^b	3.12^c	3.24^c	4.90^a	0.08	<.01
Thigh muscle
T-SOD, U mg^−1 prot	56.33^b	62.96^a	62.19^a	43.73^c	0.94	<.01
GSH-Px, U mg^−1 prot	475.10^b	692.60^a	621.70^a	459.00^c	5.32	<.01
MDA, nmol mg^−1 prot	1.68^b	1.49^c	1.51^c	2.01^a	0.07	<.01

SEM: Standard error of mean; T-SOD: Total superoxide dismutase; GSH-Px: Glutathione peroxidase; MDA: Malondialdehyde.

¹ T1 = Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2 = Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3 = Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 = Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹).

^a–cValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at p < .05.

Figure 4. Effect of maternal dietary energy level on relative expression level of GSH-Px mRNA in breast muscle of offspring; abc Means with different letters are significantly different (p<.05); T1: Treatment 1 (11.70 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T2: Treatment 2 (9.36 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T3: Treatment 3 (8.19 MJ ME kg⁻¹); T4 : Treatment 4 (5.85 MJ ME kg⁻¹); ME: Metabolizable energy; GSH-Px = Glutathione peroxidase.