Effects of Dietary Betaine Supplementation on Growth Performance, Carcass Traits, Meat Quality, and Fatty acid Composition in Broiler Chickens

Year 2025, Volume: 8 Issue: 5, 673 - 686, 15.09.2025

Hasan Hüseyin İpçak

https://doi.org/10.47115/bsagriculture.1746422

Abstract

Betaine, a natural methyl donor and osmolyte, influences broiler growth performance, protein and lipid metabolism, and meat quality. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary betaine supplementation on the growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, and fatty acid composition of the breast and leg muscles of broiler chickens. A total of 120 one-day-old male Cobb-500 broiler chicks were randomly allocated into 3 groups, each with 10 replicates of 4 chicks, for 42 days. The birds were fed a basal diet without betaine (control) and basal diets supplemented with 1 or 2 g/kg betaine. Dietary betaine increased body weight, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake compared with the control group throughout the trial (P<0.05). The feed conversion ratio was improved in both betaine-supplemented groups during the finisher and overall phases, especially in the 1 g/kg betaine group (P<0.05). Betaine supplementation significantly increased the carcass and leg muscle yields (P<0.05) but did not affect the breast muscle yield (P>0.05). Meat quality indicators, including squeezable water loss in the breast muscle, shear force, and cooking loss in both muscle types, were improved by supplementation with 1 g/kg betaine (P<0.05). The ultimate pH and L*, a*, and b* values of the breast muscle at 45 min were significantly lower in the 2 g/kg betaine-supplemented group than in the control group (P<0.05). However, the L* values in the breast and leg muscles and the b* value in the breast muscle at 24 h were the highest in the 1 g/kg betaine group (P<0.05). The crude fat content in the breast and leg muscles was elevated in the 1 g/kg betaine group (P<0.05), whereas betaine levels had no effect on the crude protein contents in either muscle type (P>0.05). Furthermore, dietary betaine supplementation significantly modulated the fatty acid composition of the breast and leg muscles (P<0.05). In the breast muscle, the 2 g/kg betaine group exhibited the greatest Σn-3 content and the most favorable Σn-6/Σn-3 ratio, while the 1 g/kg betaine group had the highest monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) content (P<0.05). In the leg muscle, the 1 g/kg betaine group also had elevated MUFA content and an increased Σn-6/Σn-3 ratio (P<0.05). Moreover, saturated fatty acid levels were reduced at both betaine levels (P<0.05), whereas polyunsaturated fatty acid levels showed no significant change (P>0.05). In conclusion, 1 g/kg dietary betaine was the most effective level for enhancing broiler growth efficiency, carcass traits, and meat lipid profile.Therefore, betaine may be used as a functional feed additive to improve broiler performance and meat quality.

Keywords

Betaine , Broilers , Growth performance , Meat quality , Fatty acid profile

Ethical Statement

The experimental protocols implemented in this study were fully compliant with the European directive on animal welfare and ethical use of animals in scientific research (Directive 2010/63/EU) and were approved by the Ethics Committee of Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Türkiye y (approval date: February 06, 2025, protocol code: 2025/06).

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