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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #353495
Research Project: Reducing Production Losses due to Oxidative Stress and Bacterial Pathogens in Swine

Location: Agroecosystems Management Research

Title: Effect of oil source and peroxidation status interactively affects growth performance and oxidative status in broilers from 4 to 25 days of age

Author
item LINDBLOM, STEPHANIE - Iowa State University
item GABLER, NICHOLAS - Iowa State University
item BOBECK, ELIZABETH - Iowa State University
item Kerr, Brian

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/8/2018
Publication Date: 4/1/2019
Citation: Lindblom, S.C., Gabler, N.K., Bobeck, E.A., Kerr, B.J. 2019. Effect of oil source and peroxidation status interactively affects growth performance and oxidative status in broilers from 4 to 25 days of age. Poultry Science. 98:1749–1761.

Interpretive Summary: Oil source has been shown to affect broiler performance and oxidative status in growing broilers. Likewise, damage of an oil by its peroxidation may also affect bird performance and oxidative status through the generation and degradation of peroxidation compounds which differ according to oil source and temperature and length of heating. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding thermally processing palm oil, soybean oil, flax seed oil, and fish oil at 90C to growing broilers on their growth performance and measures of oxidative stress. Data from this experiment indicate that the unsaturation index, concentration of aldehydes or total polar compounds, and potentially degree of polymerization of an oil should be measured as an indicator of oil quality, with broiler growth performance being correlated to oxidative stress measures of plasma lipid and protein damage, and to plasma glutathione peroxidase activity. This information is important for nutritionists at universities, feed companies, and poultry production facilities indicating that the degree of unsaturation and peroxidation status of dietary oils affected growth performance and markers of oxidative stress in poultry, thereby providing a basis from which to assess damage to oils used in feed production.

Technical Abstract: The objectives were to evaluate the effect of oil source and peroxidation status on broiler performance and oxidative stress. Broilers (initial BW 85.1 ± 7.8 g) were allotted to 40 battery cages with 5 birds per cage in a completely randomized design. The 4 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments consisted of oil source (palm oil, soybean oil, flaxseed oil, and fish oil) and peroxidation status (fresh or peroxidized). Broilers were fed experimental diets for 20 d to measure growth performance; on d 21, plasma and liver samples were harvested for analysis of oxidative stress including thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls (PC), 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-2dG), and glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx) in plasma and liver, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity in liver. An interaction occurred between oil source and peroxidation status where broilers fed peroxidized oils had reduced ADFI, ADG, G:F, and plasma GPx in all oil sources except for fish oil (P = 0.04). Plasma 8-OH-2dG was increased by feeding peroxidized oils (P = 0.01). An interaction occurred in liver TBARS where broilers fed peroxidized palm oil had greater liver TBARS compared to fresh palm oil (P = 0.09). An interaction was noted for liver PC where broilers fed palm, flaxseed, and fish oil had similar liver PC regardless of peroxidation status while broilers fed peroxidized soybean oil had increased liver PC compared to the fresh soybean oil diet (P = 0.04). Oil source affected plasma TBARS and 8-OH-2dG (P = 0.01), plasma PC (P = 0.09), liver 8-OH-2dG (P = 0.08), and liver CAT (P = 0.02). Correlations between oil composition with growth performance and oxidative stress markers imply that oil UFA:SFA, AnV, DDE, total polar compounds, and PTAGS should be measured as an indicator of oil quality, with growth performance being correlated to plasma TBARS, PC, and GPx. In conclusion, the degree of unsaturation and peroxidation status of dietary oils affected growth performance and markers of oxidative stress in poultry.