1. Introduction
Antibiotics have been used as a growth-promoting feed additive in livestock farming for many years. Although antibiotics provide advantages to animal production, the misuse and abuse of antibiotics have caused the evolution of bacteria and drug-resistant pathogens in poultry products, which directly or indirectly endangers human health and environmental safety [
1]. Fortunately, many countries realized the severity of this safety problem and adopted “antibiotics ban” measures in the feed additives [
2]. It is imperative to conduct intensified searches for alternative natural growth promoters to sustain growth, health, and meat quality of chickens. On the other hand, the global demand for high-quality protein for a healthy life has been increasing during these years. Poultry meat, rich in protein and valuable nutrients, is the first most consumed and produced meat today globally [
3]. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) statistics, global production of poultry meat accounted for 35 percent of meat production in 2019, and poultry meat showed the largest growth in absolute and relative terms since 2000 and was the most produced type of meat in 2019. Obviously, poultry meat has the potential to be a functional food because the substantial beneficial nutrients can be diverted from feed to poultry products. Therefore, the current work should be highlighted to improve nutritive value of poultry meat.
Probiotic feed additives have gained widespread interest worldwide in the poultry industry [
4]. Probiotics have become more important alternatives as feed additives because they play a vital role in enhancing anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects, modulating the structure of host microflora and stimulating the digestive systems of animals [
5,
6,
7]. In these probiotics,
Clostridium butyricum (
C. butyricum) is a direct-fed additive used widely in poultry production as it possesses positive properties, including promoting growth, antioxidant, regulating immunity, and improving meat quality [
8,
9,
10,
11]. Massive data show the potential application of
C. butyricum to poultry feed. It qualifies unique advantages. Generally,
C. butyricum can resist the adverse environment in the gastrointestinal tract due to its stress tolerance, then colonize the gut, and finally create a beneficial environment in vivo. For instance, some metabolites from
C. butyricum enhance disease resistance and host innate immunity and coin a stable internal environment without suffering from oxidative stress [
12,
13].
Fatty acid (FA) profiles of meat have always been a focus of healthy food, in which the balance between saturated fatty acids (SFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) is one of the most attractive components. Poultry meat is a significant provider of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), forcing it to oxidate more quickly [
14]. However, those long-chain PUFAs are responsible for the color, texture, odor, and flavor of the meat, thus determining meat value in markets. As a result, measures must be adopted to impede the oxidation of PUFA. Recent studies have suggested that dietary supplementation of antioxidants is beneficial for preventing diseases and improving quality of life [
15,
16]. Previously, supplementation of
C. butyricum has been reported to enrich meat with some functional FAs and increase the PUFA to SFA ratio in Peking ducks [
17]. Moreover,
C. butyricum can produce both butyrate and H
2, which have been proved to exert antioxidant properties by increasing the activity of antioxidative enzymes and decreasing reactive oxygen metabolites [
18,
19,
20]. Dietary
C. butyricum ameliorated antioxidant enzyme activity and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content in weaned piglets [
21]. Consequently, we speculated that
C. butyricum may make an impact on resisting antioxidative stress in poultry production.
C. butyricum NF, isolated from cattle feces, has strong resistance to heat and simulated gastric and intestinal fluid (data not published) [
22]. Our previous study showed that dietary
C. butyricum NF improved hepatic antioxidant capability, meat quality and fatty acid composition, while decreased serum lipid and abdominal fat in Arbor Acres chicks [
23]. Our findings could also verify its antioxidative properties that cell-free extracts of
C. butyricum NF could scavenge some free radicals (data not published) [
22]. Moreover,
C. butyricum NF could ameliorate serum lipid in oxidative stress induced by corticosterone exposure of mice (data not published) [
22]. However, little information is available on examining the response of
C. butyricum NF on carcass traits and fatty acid composition in the meat of broiler chickens. We assumed that feeding
C. butyricum NF might exert antioxidant properties in the broiler’s body. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the effects of probiotic
C. butyricum NF on carcass traits, antioxidant capacity, meat quality and fatty acid composition of broiler chickens.
4. Discussion
The present study introduced an isolated
C. butyricum strain with potent antioxidant properties as a possible novel feed additive for poultry [
23,
27]. Little research has evaluated
C. butyricum effects on the meat quality of broilers. In this study, we mainly investigated the effects of dietary
C. butyricum NF on carcass traits, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, and fatty acid composition of broiler chickens. The present study showed that supplementing
C. butyricum NF in the broiler’s diet enhanced liver antioxidant properties, improved the sensory qualities of meat in the breast and thigh muscle, and increased some MUFA and PUFA and total MUFA and PUFA concentrations of breast and thigh muscles.
Carcass traits occupy an essential position in broiler production. In the present study, no effects were found on slaughter performance with the inclusion of
C. butyricum compared to the control treatment. It was found that dietary
C. butyricum at 1 × 10
9 CFU/kg did not affect the abdominal in broilers [
28]. In contrast, in our previous study, adding 1 × 10
9 CFU/kg
C. butyricum in the broilers diet increased the breast muscle yield but decreased abdominal fat [
23]. In other studies where a positive effect of
C. butyricum on carcass traits has been reported, showing that synbiotics included 3 × 10
9 CFU/kg
C. butyricum in broilers diets or cherry valley ducks diets reduced abdominal fat, and this dosage of
C. butyricum in the feed also elevated breast muscle yield in broilers [
29,
30]. These inconsistent results may be due to strain-specific characteristics, administration level, diet composition, and animal species [
31,
32]. We speculated that a higher dose is required to improve the carcass traits of broilers regarding this isolated
C. butyricum, compared with the level of inclusion in this study.
There is a well-managed balance between oxidation and reduction under physiological conditions. However, excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated once the balance is disrupted, along with physiological changes [
33]. Subsequently, irreversible detrimental consequences are triggered, including lipid peroxidation, protein, nuclear DNA and mitochondrial dysfunction [
34]. With the help of enzymes and transition metals, ROS initiates oxidation of PUFA in meat products and further damages the body for its nutritional and physiological characteristics [
35,
36]. As the body’s first antioxidant defense, the three major antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), are termed key scavengers of ROS, whose concentration elevation means more potent resistance against oxidative stress [
37,
38]. On the contrary, malondialdehyde (MDA) is a secondary oxidation product involved in lipid peroxidation [
39]. When it accumulates exceedingly in vivo, it will trigger deleterious, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects on organisms, among which one of the intuitionistic manifestations is compromising meat quality [
40,
41,
42,
43]. Pretreatment with
C. butyricum could alleviate severe oxidation damage caused by carbon tetrachloride and reverse anomalous changes in SOD, CAT and MDA in mice [
44]. Supplementing
C. butyricum in the feed increased antioxidant enzymatic activity (T-SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px) but decreased the MDA content in the muscle of Peking ducks [
17]. Our previous study had also revealed that
C. butyricum elevated the hepatic SOD activity and serum GSH concentration but lowered the MDA concentration in both liver and serum of broilers [
23]. In the present study, the addition of aureomycin to the feed triggered an imbalanced oxidative stress status in broilers at both the starter and grower phases. In our previous study [
23], we also observed that dietary aureomycin led to a decline in the serum GSH but an increment in the serum MDA. We can speculate that aureomycin may cause a stress response in the broiler’s body. Although there were no significant differences regarding serum antioxidative indices between the CON and
C. butyricum-supplemented groups, no adverse effects were observed on serum antioxidative capacity in broilers with the inclusion of
C. butyricum. Nevertheless, we found a linear increase in the concentrations of liver T-AOC, T-SOD, and CAT at the starter phase of broilers in response to increasing doses of
C. butyricum. Moreover, the inclusion of
C. butyricum to the feed resulted in the concentrations of liver T-SOD and CAT being linearly enhanced at the grower phase of broilers, while leading to the liver MDA contents being linearly reduced. The augmented antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased MDA contents in the body suggest a decrease in lipid peroxidation and improved whole-body antioxidant status [
45]. As a consequence, the elevated antioxidant enzyme activities or lowered ROS can be a helpful indicator of meat quality. Our results suggested that
C. butyricum could be a potential antioxidant to improve the productive performance of poultry.
With the increasing awareness of a healthy diet, the public has turned their attention to the nutritive chicken meat. Meat color can directly show meat quality and is a leading factor influencing consumer acceptance of food products [
46]. The L*, a*, and b* values have been used to distinguish dark-colored from normal-colored broiler chicken. The L* value stands for lightness. Lightness was related negatively to pH and positively to drip and cook loss [
47,
48]. Myoglobin acts as the primary pigment accountable for the red color. Thus, higher a* value means more myoglobin accumulation in meat [
49]. Contrary to the a* value, the b* value represents yellowness. It is generally thought that a lower b* value means less pale meat [
50]. Supplementation of
C. butyricum reduced the L* value of broilers but enhanced a* value of Peking ducks [
17,
51]. In our previous study [
23], dietary
C. butyricum showed no significant differences with respect to L*, a*, and b* values of broilers. In the current study, we observed that the redness of the breast muscle in broilers was only significantly increased with the inclusion of 4 × 10
8 CFU/kg
C. butyricum in the feed, which indicated that administrating
C. butyricum NF to the feed had a slight impact on meat color in broilers.
Another visual and sensory appeal determinant is the water-holding capacity (WHC). The more water that is retained, the higher the tenderness and juiciness in the meat [
52]. In the present study, we employed drip loss and cooking loss to depict the WHC of meat. We luckily discovered that the shearing force was quadratically decreased in the breast muscle, and the cooking loss and shearing force were linearly reduced in the thigh muscle of broilers responded to dosages of
C. butyricum. Previous studies found decreases in drip loss, cooking loss, and shear force in the breast muscle of poultry supplemented with
C. butyricum in the diets [
17,
53]. Other probiotics, such as
Bacillus subtilis,
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and
Bifidobacterium, have been reported to improve meat quality [
25,
54]. In contrast, some studies revealed that dietary probiotics slightly influenced meat sensory properties [
55,
56]. What we found in this study suggested that
C. butyricum could improve the sensory quality of broilers, thus making it more appealing to consumers. The possible reasons that dietary
C. butyricum improves meat quality may be associated with proteome alterations, variation of the nutrition metabolism, and activation of the glutathione and thioredoxin systems in the body [
57,
58,
59]. The use of probiotics is complex because there are many factors, specific strains, optimal dosage, and an intricate network of interactions between probiotics and the gut microbiota. Further studies should investigate the mechanism of probiotics actions on the meat quality of broiler chickens.
The fatty acid profile of meat has been paid more attention to in recent years. Multiple fatty acids of meat contribute to nutritional value in daily diets and are beneficial for human health. High consumption of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) will lead to the elevation of serum cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which are likely to lead occurrence of some diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases (CDC) and type 2 diabetes [
60]. Unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) can be further sorted into two types. One is monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and the other is polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). MUFAs can prevent CDC risk under high intake [
61,
62]. PUFAs have countless contributions to human health since they widely participate in diminishing inflammation, preventing the occurrence of CDC, and protecting the nerve [
63,
64,
65]. In the current study, supplementing
C. butyricum to the feed had a positive quadratic effect on the contents of some MUFA and PUFA and total PUFA in the breast muscle. Moreover, the concentrations of some MUFA and PUFA and total MUFA were linearly and quadratically increased, and the contents of total PUFA and the ratio of PUFA to SFA were quadratically augmented in the thigh muscle of broilers responded to the dosages of
C. butyricum. With respect to the fatty acid profile, the inclusion of 4 × 10
8 CFU/kg
C. butyricum had the optimum benefit on the breast muscles in broilers, and the supplementation of 4 × 10
8 CFU/kg or 8 × 10
8 CFU/kg in the diet exerted a better positive effect on the thigh muscle. Another remarkable result is that dietary
C. butyricum has enhanced some PUFA contents, total PUFA, and the PUFA to SFA ratio compared to the aureomycin treatment. Similarly, our previous findings that dietary
C. butyricum increased PUFA concentrations in the meat of broilers [
23]. The comparable results appeared in other species. Dietary
C. butyricum augmented MUFA and PUFA concentrations in breast muscle of Peking ducks, especially some long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) [
17]. In recent years, several studies have shown that supplementation of other probiotics (
Lactobacillus johnsonii and
B. amyloliquefaciens) increase levels of PUFA and the ratio of PUFA to SFA in the meat of broilers, causing a reduction in abdominal fat in broilers [
24,
66,
67]. The PUFA was proven to attenuate fat accumulation by activating peroxisomal beta-oxidation [
68] and lower serum triglyceride concentration [
69]. According to the current findings, we could speculate that the widespread dietary
C. butyricum might be a viable technique for providing better health status for broilers.
Linoleic acid (LNA) and α-linolenic acid (ALA) cannot be synthesized by humans or other animals, so they are defined as essential fatty acids (EFAs). These EFAs subsequently transform into arachidonic acid (ARA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The latter two are n-3 PUFAs, which exert myriad health benefits and protect us against inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other diseases [
70,
71]. In recent years, there has been scanty information about
C. butyricum works on the fatty acid profile of broilers. Previously, dietary
C. butyricum decreased the ratio of n-6/n-3 fatty acids in the breast muscle and increased EPA and total n-3 fatty acids in broilers [
72]. Our previous study showed that supplementation of
C. butyricum increased broilers’ EPA and DHA contents of the breast muscle [
27]. In this study, the supplementation of
C. butyricum in the diet had no positive or negative influence on DHA contents in broilers. Noticeably, the inclusion of 4 × 10
8 CFU/kg
C. butyricum showed a significant difference compared to the aureomycin treatment. The different results may be explained by the differences among broilers’ breeds. Two former studies were aimed at Arbor Acres broilers, while Ross 308 broilers were used in our experiments.
The mechanisms by which dietary
C. butyricum regulates the fatty acid composition of meat are not fully explained. The increment in PUFA contents, such as LNA and ARA, observed in this study could be ascribed to an increase in the body’s antioxidant activity. The antioxidant property of
C. butyricum was supported in the present study, and this could hinder the peroxidation of tissue lipids, especially LC-PUFA. PUFAs are the preferred targets for ROS [
39]. It is an excellent approach for employing antioxidants to maintain oxidant/antioxidant balance in animals and improve product quality by preventing lipid oxidation [
35]. Some metabolites or bioactive substances from
C. butyricum exert positive effects on inhibiting pathogens adhered to the intestines, modifying the gut microbial composition and protecting the integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier, which could maintain and promote nutrients digestion and absorption [
73,
74,
75]. The adjustment of fatty acid profiles may ascribe to the beneficial effects of metabolites from
C. butyricum. In summary, it is well understood that dietary
C. butyricum strongly affects animal health and meat quality by affecting PUFA deposition and strengthening the antioxidant status of broilers. Furthermore, our findings showed positive effects on the growth performance of broilers after dietary supplementation with
C. butyricum (data not published) [
76]. However, further studies are required to confirm the mechanism of
C. butyricum supplementation works on broilers meat and investigate the association among its antioxidant properties, meat quality, and alteration of fatty acid profiles.