title: Effects of Dietary Coconut Oil as a Medium-chain Fatty Acid Source on Performance, Carcass Composition and Serum Lipids in Male Broilers.
abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary coconut oil as a medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) source on performance, carcass composition and serum lipids in male broilers. A total of 540, one-day-old, male Arbor Acres broilers were randomly allotted to 1 of 5 treatments with each treatment being applied to 6 replicates of 18 chicks. The basal diet (i.e., R0) was based on corn and soybean meal and was supplemented with 1.5% soybean oil during the starter phase (d 0 to 21) and 3.0% soybean oil during the grower phase (d 22 to 42). Four experimental diets were formulated by replacing 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of the soybean oil with coconut oil (i.e., R25, R50, R75, and R100). Soybean oil and coconut oil were used as sources of long-chain fatty acid and MCFA, respectively. The feeding trial showed that dietary coconut oil had no effect on weight gain, feed intake or feed conversion. On d 42, serum levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were linearly decreased as the coconut oil level increased (p<0.01). Lipoprotein lipase, hepatic lipase, and total lipase activities were linearly increased as the coconut oil level increased (p<0.01). Abdominal fat weight/eviscerated weight (p = 0.05), intermuscular fat width (p<0.01) and subcutaneous fat thickness (p<0.01) showed a significant quadratic relationship, with the lowest value at R75. These results indicated that replacement of 75% of the soybean oil in diets with coconut oil is the optimum level to reduce fat deposition and favorably affect lipid profiles without impairing performance in broilers.
authors.forename: Jianhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Juntao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yiqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: Broiler; Carcass Composition; Growth Performance; Medium-chain Fatty Acid; Serum Lipid