Effects of dietary supplementation with carnosine on meat quality and antioxidant capacity in broiler chickens

1. This study aimed to investigate the effects of carnosine supplementation on meat quality, antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation status in broiler chickens.2. A total of 256 1-d-old male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly assigned to 4 treatments consisting of 8 replicates of 8 chickens each. The birds were supplied with 4 different diets: a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 100, 200 or 400mg/kg carnosine, respectively. The whole experiment lasted 42d.3. The results showed that dietary supplementation with carnosine linearly increased the values of pH(45min) and redness and reduced drip loss of breast meat. Dietary carnosine increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes in liver, serum and breast meat and decreased the contents of lipid peroxides at 21 and 42d of age.4. These findings indicated that dietary supplementation with carnosine was beneficial to enhance meat quality, antioxidant capacity and decrease lipid peroxidation status of breast meat.