Berberine Improves Meat Quality and Carcass Traits in Broilers Challenged with Mycotoxins

Background and Aim: Mycotoxin-contaminated feed causes significant concern in poultry production and public health because of serious economic losses and health problems caused by them.  Berberine hydrochloride (Berberine), a natural plant alkaloid derived from Chinese medicine, is characterized by diverse pharmacological effects. This study is designed to evaluate the effects of different levels of Berberine (BBR) on carcass traits and meat quality of broilers fed diets contaminated with Aflatoxin B1 (AFB) and Ochratoxin A (OCT). Methods: A 42-day floor pen trial was performed with 288 Ross 308 broilers. A randomized design, with 4 replicates of 8 birds each, was conducted with the following 9 treatments: (1) negative control diet with no additives (NC); (2) NC + 2 ppm AFB (positive control AFB; PCAFB); (3) NC + 2 ppm OCT (positive control OCT; PCOCT); (4) PCAFB + 200 mg/kg BBR; (5) PCAFB + 400 mg/kg BBR; (6) PCAFB + 600 mg/kg BBR; (7) PCOCT + 200 mg/kg BBR; (8) PCOCT + 400 mg/kg BBR; and (9) PCOCT + 600 mg/kg BBR. At the end of the experiment, from every group, eight birds were selected, slaughtered, and subjected to analyses. The analyzed parameters carcass and cut yields and meat quality according to water-holding capacity (WHC) and breast level MDA. Results: Both PCAFB and PCOTA diets decreased carcass relative weight, breast level MDA, and WHC values compared with the NC diet (p<0.05). Meat level of MDA in PCAFB and PCOTA treatments were higher than in the NC treatment (p˂0.05), and supplementation with BBR at multiple levels partially these effects (p˂0.05). The addition of 600 mg/kg BBR to PCAFB diets increased WHC value to levels not different from that in the NC group (p>0.05). Carcass efficiency in PCAFB and PCOTA treatments was lower than in the NC treatment (p˂0.05), and supplementation with BBR at multiple levels partially or fully reversed these effects. The addition of 600 mg/kg BBR to PCAFB diet increased carcass relative weight compared to PCAFB alone (p>0.05). Conclusion: These data provided supplementation of BBR (600 mg/kg) improves meat quality in broiler fed diet contaminated with mycotoxins. *Corresponding Author: Nazar Afzali; Email: [email protected] Please cite this article as: Malekinezhad P, Afzali N, Farhangfar SH, Omidi A, Mohammadi A. Berberine Improves Meat Quality and Carcass Traits in Broilers Challenged with Mycotoxins. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2020;6:1-9 (e23). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v6.3333

Inclusion of Berberis vulgaris leaf in the diet of fattening lambs: effects on performance, nutrient intake, rumen fermentation, and carcass traits

This study was aimed to first, determine the nutritional value of Berberis vulgaris leaf (BVL), using in-vitro gas production technique and second, determine the effect of replacing alfalfa hay (AH) with BVL in lamb diets on nutrient intake, performance, and carcass traits. In-vitro rumen gas kinetics and fermentation profile were assessed using three fistulated lambs and 96 h incubation of samples. For the in-vivo trial, twenty-one Baluchi male lambs of 5–6 months of age and 30.6 ± 1.28 kg body weight (BW) were randomly assigned to three treatment diets containing BVL at 0% (CTRL), 7.5% (BVL7.5), and 15% (BVL15) of the total dry matter (DM) inclusion. The study lasted 84 days, which included 14 days for adaption and 70 days for sample collection. In-vitro results showed that BVL had lower gas yield (GY24, p ≤ 0.05) than AH. In-vivo trial revealed that DMI increased with BVL15 followed by BVL7.5 (p ≤ 0.05). Digestibility of DM, OM, NDF, and ADL decreased (p ≤ 0.05) with BVL15. Total weight gain (TWG), average daily gain (ADG), hot carcass weight (HCW), and cold carcass weight (CCW) were decreased (p ≤ 0.05) with BVL15, however, no differences were observed between the BVL7.5 and CTRL groups. Feed cost per kg BW gain decrease (p ≤ 0.05) by increasing the inclusion levels of BVL. In conclusion, BVL (up to 7.5 % DM of diet) have positive consequences on performance, nutrient intake, rumen fermentation without deleterious effects on fattening performance

Partial substitution of alfalfa hay by Berberis vulgaris leaf modulated the growth performance, meat quality and antioxidant status of fattening lambs

Abstract Background Undoubtedly, global warming has caused a decrease in the production of agricultural commodities. This problem has increased the price of animal feed due to competition with human consumption. Meanwhile, the physiology of ruminants gives them the ability to use by‐products and agricultural waste and supply their requirements for growth, maintenance and even production. Berberis vulgaris is a plant native to Iran, and after separating the fruit, its waste (mainly leaf) is unused and causes environmental pollution. The leaves of this plant contain significant amounts of phenolic compounds, alkaloids and anthocyanins that have antioxidant properties. Objectives This experiment was conducted with the aim of determining the chemical properties of barberry leaves, such as crude protein, phenolic compounds, tannins and alkaloids. The effects of substituting of B. vulgaris leaf (BVL) in the diet on performance characteristics of fattening Baluchi lambs were evaluated. The quality and antioxidant status of meat and blood parameters such as glucose, cholesterol, blood urea nitrogen and liver enzymes were investigated. Material and methods A total of 21 male of 5–6 months old lambs with a mean body weight of 30.60 ± 1.28 kg were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments with different levels of BVL: 1–diet without BVL (control), 2–diet containing 7.5% BVL (BVL7.5), and 3–diet containing 15% BVL (BVL15; dry matter [DM] basis). Blood samples were harvested after overnight fasting from the jugular vein at 0, 28, 56 and 84 days. The lambs were slaughtered after 84 days of feeding trial and longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle was dissected. Meat quality and antioxidant stability status were measured. Results 15% substitution of alfalfa hay by BVL (BVL15) increased DM intake) and decreased average daily gain (p ≤ 0.05). The LD muscle (p ≤ 0.05), liver (p ≤ 0.01) and plasma (p ≤ 0.05) samples of lambs fed either BVL7.5 or BVL15 displayed a greater total antioxidant capacity than that of lambs fed the control diet. Also, malondialdehyde concentration was decreased in plasma (p ≤ 0.01) and LD muscle of lambs (p ≤ 0.05) fed both BVL7.5 and BVL15. In addition, higher a* and C* values (p ≤ 0.05) were observed in the meat of lambs fed BVL15 than those fed with the control, while the lightness (L*) in BVL15 was lower, compared to other experimental diets Conclusions Overall, our results indicated that 7.5% substitution of alfalfa hay by BVL may positively modulate the antioxidant status of fattening lambs and improve the colour stability of meat without negative effects on performance characteristics