Effect of Adding Astaxanthin to The Diet on The Physical and Chemical Traits of The Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was conducted to add low levels of Astaxanthin to the feed on some physical and chemical traits of broiler carcasses raised at 42 days of age. 240 unsexed chicks, one day age, used the ROSS 308 strain, which was distributed randomly into five treatments by 48 chicks/treatment, and each treatment was divided into three replicates (16 chicks/replicate). The chicks were fed on three diets that included the initiator, growth, and final (23, 21.5, and 19.44% crude protein), respectively. Representative energy has amounted to 3000.5, 3100.7, and 3199.25 kcal/kg feed, respectively. Astaxanthin powder was added to the diet at levels 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 mg/Kg of feed (T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 treatments group), respectively. The results show the following: The treatments with Astaxanthin has recorded a significant improvement (P <0.01) in the percentages of liquids loss during cooking, drip and thawing loss, a significant increase in water holding capacity and pH in favor of the nutrient addition treatments compared to the control group. It, also, showed a significant improvement in the chemical traits of the Myoglobin and cholesterol concentration of minced chicken meat for the Astaxanthin treatments compared to the control group. It is concluded from the present study that the addition of low levels of Astaxanthin to broiler feed during the 42-day rearing period gave the best results in the physical and chemical traits of the carcass.