Effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LFB112 in the diet on growth of broilers and on the quality and fatty acid composition of broiler meat

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LFB112 in the diet on growth of broilers and on the quality and fatty acid composition of broiler meat. 440 1-day-old Arbor Acres male broiler chicks were randomly allocated into five dietary treatments with eight replicates in a completely randomised design for 42 days. The treatments were as follows: basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with 107 colony-forming units (CFU) B. amyloliquefaciens/kg (B7), 108 CFU B. amyloliquefaciens/kg (B8), 109 CFU B. amyloliquefaciens/kg (B9) or 40 mg aureomycin/kg (antibiotic). The results showed that B. amyloliquefaciens-supplemented groups had greater (P < 0.05) average daily gain during Days 1 to 21, Days 22 to 42 and Days 1 to 42, and improved (P < 0.05) feed conversion rate during Days 1 to 42 compared with the control. Broilers in the B7 and B9 groups had higher (P < 0.05) average daily feed intake than those in the control group in all experimental phases. Broilers fed either B. amyloliquefaciens or antibiotic diet showed higher (P < 0.05) a* value, b* value and lower L* value in the breast muscle than those in the control group. Dietary B. amyloliquefaciens supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the contents of C14:1, C16:1c, C18:1t, C18:1c, C20:1n-9, total monounsaturated fatty acids, C18:2c, C18:3n-3, C20:2n-6, C20:3n-6, C20:3n-3, C20:4n-6, C20:5n-3, C22:6n-3 and total polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in breast muscle and the concentrations of C17:1, C20:1n-9, C18:2t-9, t-12, C20:2n-6, C20:3n-6, C20:3n-3, C20:4n-6, C20:5n-3 and C22:6n-3 in thigh muscle of broilers. The results indicated that B. amyloliquefaciens improved broilers’ growth performance, meat quality and fatty acid composition.