Changes in the growth, ileal digestibility, intestinal histology, behavior, fatty acid composition of the breast muscles, and blood biochemical parameters of broiler chickens by dietary inclusion of safflower oil and vitamin C

BACKGROUND: The effects of safflower oil and vitamin C (Vit. C) inclusion in broiler chicken diets on the growth performance, apparent ileal digestibility coefficient “AID%” of amino acids, intestinal histology, behavior, carcass traits, fatty acid composition of the breast muscle, antioxidant and immune status for a 35-day feeding period were evaluated. A total of 300 three-day-old Ross chicks (58.25 g ± 0.19) were randomly allotted in a 2 × 3 factorial design consisting of two levels of vitamin C (0 and 400 mg/kg diet) and three levels of safflower oil (0, 5, and 10 g/kg diet). RESULTS: An increase in the final body weight, total body weight gain, total feed intake, and the relative growth rate (P < 0.05) were reported by safflower oil and vitamin C inclusion. Dietary supplementation of safflower oil and vitamin C had a positive effect (P < 0.05) on the ingestive, resting, and feather preening behavior. Vitamin C supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the AID% of lysine, threonine, tryptophan, arginine, and valine. Safflower inclusion (10 g/kg) increased (P < 0.05) the AID% of methionine and isoleucine. Safflower oil inclusion increased (P < 0.05) the levels of stearic acid, linoleic acid, saturated fatty acids, and omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3) in the breast muscle. In contrast, the supplementation of only 10 g of safflower oil/kg diet increased (P = 0.01) the omega-3/omega-6 (ω-3/ω-6) fatty acids ratio. Vit. C supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the CAT serum levels, SOD, and GSH enzymes. Dietary supplementation of safflower oil and vitamin C improved the intestinal histology. They increased the villous height and width, crypt depth, villous height/crypt depth ratio, mucosal thickness, goblet cell count, and intra-epithelium lymphocytic lick cell infiltrations. The serum levels of IgA and complement C3 were increased (P < 0.01) by Vit. C supplementation and prominent in the 400 vit. C + 10 safflower Oil group. CONCLUSION: A dietary combination of safflower oil and vitamin C resulted in improved growth rate, amino acids AID%, intestinal histology, welfare, immune and antioxidant status of birds, and obtaining ω-3 and linoleic acid-enriched breast muscles. The best inclusion level was 400 vit. C + 10 safflower Oil.