title: Effect of diet on growth and plasma ascorbic acid in chicks.
abstract: Six experiments were conducted to study the effect of diet on growth and plasma ascorbic acid in chickens. D-Glucuronolactone failed to improve growth with either a crude yeast-fish meal diet or a purified diet based on casein and gelatin. With the purified diet, D-glucuronic acid and L-gulonolactone also failed to improve growth and did not influence plasma ascorbic acid levels. Dietary ascorbic acid improved growth of chicks with a purified diet in most cases, but not with a corn-soybean diet. Meat meal and fish meal caused slight increases in plasma ascorbic acid, whereas soybean meal, safflower meal, and cottonseed meal caused greater increases when used in a purified diet. Gulonolactone oxidase activity in the kidney was not different between chicks fed the purified or the corn-soybean diets, but was reduced by 0.1% dietary ascorbic acid. The mechanism for the increase in plasma ascorbic acid with the addition of soybean meal and other plant protein sources to the diet is not known.
authors.affiliation: Department of Avian Sciences, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Kratzer
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Almquist
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vohra
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects*; D002645:Chickens / Q000097:blood / Q000254:growth & development*; D005527:Food, Fortified; D005965:Glucuronates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D008297:Male; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D005965:Glucuronates; D013400:Sugar Acids; C004940:glucuronolactone; C007895:gulonolactone; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D001205:Ascorbic Acid