Effects of Dietary Quinoa Seeds on Cecal Microorganisms and Muscle Fatty Acids of Female Luhua Chickens

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Providing high-quality feed for animals to improve the quality of animal products and, therefore, meet the needs of the public is a focus of animal husbandry. As a high-altitude crop, quinoa has high and abundant nutritional value. In recent years, with the planting area increasing year by year in our country, feed development and utilization of quinoa seeds and by-products have increased. At present, few studies gave examined the optimal addition of quinoa seeds in livestock and poultry diets and, in particular, the effects of the dietary addition of quinoa seeds on the intestinal microorganisms and muscle fatty acids of Luhua chickens. Therefore, in this study, different proportions of quinoa seeds (raw grain) were added in the diets of Luhua chickens to analyze their effects on intestinal microbiota and muscle fatty acids. The results showed that the content of muscle docosahexaenoic acids (C22:6n3, DHA), unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) was significantly increased by adding a certain proportion of quinoa seeds to the diet. The content of saturated fatty acids (SAFs) and the ratio of n-6/n-3 significantly decreased. The increase can effectively improve the cecal microbiota structure, regulate the intestinal environment and promote the body health of Luhua chickens. These data provide a theoretical basis for the scientific application of quinoa seeds in female Luhua chickens’ feeding and fodder development. ABSTRACT: To study the effects of adding quinoa seed (raw grain) to the diet of the Luhua chicken on the cecal microorganism abundance and fatty acid composition of muscle, 120 49-day-old healthy female dewormed Luhua chickens (body weight 1476.21 ± 101.39 g) were randomly divided into 4 groups, with 3 replicates in each group and 10 chickens in each repetition. The control group (CK group) was fed a basal diet and the experimental groups were fed with 4% (Q4), 8% (Q8), and 12% (Q12) quinoa seed (raw grain) added to the basal diet for 75 days. After 121 days of age, the animals were slaughtered and the 16S rRNA characteristics of cecal flora, as well as composition and content of fatty acids in muscle, were determined and analyzed. The content of unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs), docosahexaenoic acid (C22:6n3; DHA) and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) in the breast and leg muscles significantly increased in the experimental groups supplemented with quinoa seeds (p < 0.05). However, the content of saturated fatty acids (SAFs) and ratio of n-6/n-3 in breast muscle and leg muscle significantly decreased (p < 0.05). In addition, adding a certain percentage of quinoa seeds in the diet can also affect the community composition and content of microorganisms in the ceca of Luhua chickens. At the phylum level, the Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Synergistetes and Melainabacteria in experimental groups (Q4, Q8 and Q12) were significantly lower than those in the CK group (p < 0.05). At the genus level, Desulfovibrio, Synergistes, Olsenella, Parabacteroides, Mailhella, Sutterella and Ruminiclostridiu in group Q4 were significantly lower than those in group CK (p < 0.05) while Faecalibacterium in Q8 group, and Lawsonia and Faecalibacterium in Q12 group were significantly higher than those in the CK group (p < 0.05). Enrichment analysis of the microbial function showed that compared with the CK group, Metabolism and Enzyme Families were significantly enriched in the Q4 group (p < 0.05). Cellular Processes and Signaling were significantly enriched in the Q8 group (p < 0.05). The association analysis of fatty acids with microorganisms showed that the abundance of Faecalibacterium, Lawsonia and Meagmonas was significantly correlated with partial SFAs and UFAs (p < 0.05). In conclusion, adding quinoa seeds to diets significantly increased the content of muscle DHA, UFAs and n-3 PUFAs. The content of SAFs and the n-6/n-3 ratio were significantly reduced. Taken together, quinoa can effectively improve the cecal microbiota structure, inhibit the number of harmful bacteria and increase the number of beneficial bacteria, regulating the intestinal environment and promoting the body health of female Luhua chickens.