Enhancing Meat Quality through Live Yeast Supplementation in Broilers
The supplementation of live yeast (LY) in broiler diets has revealed promising improvements in various meat quality indicators, as observed in recent studies. Notably, this research highlights enhancements in water-holding capacity (WHC), reduced drip loss, and lower cooking loss, which can be linked to alterations in serum metabolic parameters, hematological responses, and the composition of cecal microbiota.
Key Findings on Serum Lipid Levels
Broilers fed with live yeast displayed significantly decreased serum triglyceride and total cholesterol levels (P < 0.05, Table 6). These reductions are indicative of enhanced lipid metabolism, correlating with increased cellular membrane stability and improved muscle water retention post-mortem (Bu et al., 2019).
Physiological Stress and Hematological Responses
Another notable outcome is the significant reduction in the heterophil-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratio in the LY group (P < 0.05, Table 7), a marker of physiological stress. This lower H/L ratio suggests a decrease in oxidative stress, which could enhance muscle protein integrity and decrease drip loss (Fadl et al., 2020).
Cecal Microbial Composition Insights
Cecal microbiota analysis further substantiated these findings, as the live yeast group exhibited enhanced counts of Lactobacillus spp. and notably lower counts of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. (P < 0.05, Table 8). A balanced gut microbiome plays a crucial role in reducing systemic inflammation, which positively impacts meat quality by minimizing proteolytic enzyme activity that degrades muscle proteins after slaughter (Lin et al., 2023).
Benefits of pH Level Management
The LY group’s breast muscle exhibited a higher pH value at 45 minutes post-slaughter. This factor is advantageous in preserving meat quality. Conversely, prior studies (Aristides et al., 2018) indicated that Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermented product at 1,500 g/t could lower breast meat pH at 24 hours post-slaughter. The observed decline in pH from 45 minutes to 24 hours post-slaughter remained within acceptable bounds, suggesting that LY supplementation may assist in mitigating rapid pH declines—an essential factor in preventing accelerated denaturation of meat proteins which often results in paler meat with reduced water-holding capacity (Cao et al., 2012).
Conclusive Insights on Meat Quality
Improved water-holding capacity and diminished protein denaturation may be directly linked to the higher initial pH levels observed in the LY group (Akib et al., 2024). Noteworthy outcomes include a reduced cooking loss rate and significantly lower drip loss on day 7 post-slaughter, suggesting that live yeast supplementation may enhance the water-holding capacity of meat, thereby improving both quality and consumer acceptance (Ahiwe et al., 2020). This indicates that improved gut health and nutritional utilization driven by live yeast can contribute to enhanced water retention in meat products.
Table of Hematological Parameters in Broilers
Table 7. Effects of live yeast on hematological parameters of experimental broilers (42 day) [Details].
| Parameters | Control | Antibiotic | Live Yeast | SEM | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hemoglobin (gm/dl) | 10.45 | 9.86 | 10.2 | 0.55 | 0.358 |
| Red Blood Cells (Million/cmm) | 2.84 | 2.63 | 2.95 | 0.08 | 0.534 |
| PCV % | 35 | 34 | 33 | 1.73 | 0.165 |
| Mean Corpuscular Volume (fl) | 137 | 135 | 137 | 3.56 | 0.892 |
| Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (pg) | 43 | 41 | 42 | 1.32 | 0.532 |
| MCHC (gm/dl) | 31 | 32 | 31 | 1.22 | 0.711 |
| RDW-CV % | 6.8 | 6.8 | 7.1 | 0.04 | 0.672 |
| WBC Total Count (k/cmm) | 129 | 127 | 127 | 6.88 | 0.758 |
| Heterophils % | 28 | 27 | 26 | 1.34 | 0.552 |
| Lymphocyte % | 61 | 62 | 63 | 2.33 | 0.653 |
| Monocyte % | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0.65 | 0.941 |
| Heterophils/Lymphocyte | 0.45a | 0.44a | 0.41b | 0.02 | 0.041 |
| Platelet (total count) (k/cmm) | 40 | 41 | 39 | 1.33 | 0.892 |
a,bValues with various superscripts within uniform row indicate a significant variation at P < 0.05.
SEM: stands for pooled standard error of the means. Significance level at P < 0.05.
Abbreviations: PCV – Packed Cell Volume, MCHC – Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration, RDW-CV – Red Cell Distribution Width-Coefficient of Variation, WBC – White Blood Cells, Antibiotic – Chlortetracycline at 100 mg/kg; Live Yeast at 600 mg/kg basal diet.
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