# Exploring the Dietary Strategies of Coated Sodium Butyrate: Improving Antioxidant Capacity, Meat Quality, Fatty Acid Composition, and Gut Health in Broilers

## TL;DR

This study shows that adding coated sodium butyrate to broiler diets can improve meat quality, antioxidant levels, and gut health in chickens.

## Contribution

The study introduces coated sodium butyrate as a feed supplement that enhances meat quality and gut health in broilers.

## Key findings

- CSB supplementation increased plasma antioxidase capacity in broilers.
- CSB1000 improved fatty acid composition and meat quality parameters like shear force and pH.
- CSB1000 optimized gut microbiota by increasing Firmicutes abundance and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: Broiler chickens are excellent animals for protein production and play an essential role in the food industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of coated sodium butyrate (CSB) on the biochemical indices, antioxidant capacity, meat quality, fatty acid composition, and gut health of Xianju broilers. Methods: A total of 192 one-day-old broilers were randomly divided into four treatment groups: the basal diet (CK), the basal diet with 250 mg/kg CSB (CSB250), the basal diet with 500 mg/kg CSB500 (CSB500), and the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg CSB (CSB1000). Each group included six replicates, with eight chicks per replicate. Results: We found that CSB supplementation in the diets has no function on plasma biochemical indices; however, CSB1000 broilers exhibited markedly elevated plasma TG levels. Furthermore, CSB supplementation at different concentrations significantly increased plasma antioxidase capacity in broilers. Moreover, breast meat supplemented with CSB displayed a higher shear force, pH24h, and inosinic acid content than CK meat. Breast meat of broilers fed CSB1000 showed improved fatty acid composition, evidenced by increased levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (C16:1, C18:2, C22:4, and C22:6). Moreover, supplementation with CSB1000 optimized the gut microbiota composition, particularly by enhancing the abundance of Firmicutes and the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. Conclusions: Collectively, these findings offer a basis for the extensive application of CSB as a feed addition to enhance the quality of meat in the broiler sector.