title: Effects of dietary supplementation of red ginseng marc and α-tocopherol on the growth performance and meat quality of broiler chicken.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to determine the effect of supplementation of broiler diets with red ginseng marc and α-tocopherol on the growth performance and meat quality during a 35-day feeding period. A total of 225 Hubbard male broiler chicks were fed diets supplemented with 0%, 1%, 2% and 3% red ginseng marc, or 2% red ginseng marc + 200 IU α-tocopherol kg(-1) and randomly allocated to five dietary groups (15 floor pens), so that each group had three replicates and 15 broilers per pen (0.09 m(2) per bird).
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences among the treated groups with regard to growth performance and proximate composition, except for mortality and crude fat in broilers. Serum cholesterol levels were lower in the chickens receiving diets supplemented with red ginseng marc and α-tocopherol than those in the control. With the exception of water-holding capacity or shear force values, increasing levels of red ginseng marc and a combination of red ginseng marc and α-tocopherol affected chicken thigh meat quality by decreasing the pH and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance and increasing the total phenol and DPPH-radical scavenging compared with those in the control. Broiler diets with increasing levels of red ginseng marc and the combination of red ginseng marc and α-tocopherol did not affect the color of thigh muscle, but the treatment significantly increased a* values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Supplementation of poultry diets with 3% red ginseng marc markedly reduced mortality and serum cholesterol levels and remarkably improved meat quality in broilers.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Resources, Daegu University, Gyong San, 712-714, South Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Jik
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Gee-Dong
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: In-Hag
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D003116:Color; D004032:Diet; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D005894:Panax; D010636:Phenols / Q000378:metabolism; D010851:Picrates / Q000378:metabolism; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000494:pharmacology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D014867:Water / Q000502:physiology; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D001713:Biphenyl Compounds; D010636:Phenols; D010851:Picrates; D028321:Plant Preparations; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D014867:Water; D002784:Cholesterol; C004931:1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol
keywords: growth performance; meat quality; red ginseng marc; serum cholesterol; α-tocopherol