College of Animal Science and Technology, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China.
Qingdao Institute of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Qingdao, 266199, China.
Food Funct. 2022 Feb 21;13(4):2238-2252. doi: 10.1039/d1fo03622j.
Oxidation is a major cause of meat quality deterioration during broiler production, which leads to undesirable meat color and impaired water holding capacity (WHC), thereby impacting consumer appeal and satisfaction. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a natural phenolic acid, is regarded as a potential, safer and healthier antioxidant to improve meat quality. To investigate the protective effects of CGA on the meat quality of oxidatively stressed broilers, 240 one-day-old male Cobb broiler chickens were allocated to four treatments: basal diet (control group), basal diet + dexamethasone (DEX) injection (DEX group), basal diet containing 500 mg kg CGA (CGA group), and basal diet containing 500 mg kg CGA + DEX injection (DEX_CGA group). Meat quality, antioxidant capacity, the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, and metabolomic profile were detected in the breast muscle of broilers. Then, correlation analysis between meat quality and antioxidant capacity, antioxidant-related genes, and metabolites was performed. The results indicated that CGA supplementation improved the growth performance and meat quality traits (pH, WHC, and meat color) and enhanced the antioxidant enzyme activity by activating the Nrf2 pathway in the breast muscle of oxidatively stressed broilers. A total of 619 metabolites were identified, among which 93 differential metabolites were found between control and DEX groups, and 65 differential metabolites were observed between DEX and DEX_CGA groups. Breast metabolic profiles were changed by DEX treatment, while CGA supplementation could normalize the metabolic changes in DEX-challenged broilers. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed that most of the differential metabolites between DEX and DEX_CGA groups were involved in pyrimidine/purine, propanoate and phenylalanine metabolism, primary bile acid biosynthesis, and lysine metabolism, which may contribute to explain the protective effects of CGA on meat quality. Moreover, according to the correlation analysis, four metabolites were identified as potential biomarkers to predict the meat quality. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that CGA is an effective, natural and safe antioxidant to enhance the quality of meat from intensive industrial poultry production.
氧化是肉鸡生产过程中肉质恶化的主要原因，导致肉质颜色不佳和持水力（WHC）受损，从而影响消费者的吸引力和满意度。绿原酸（CGA）是一种天然酚酸，被认为是一种潜在的、更安全、更健康的抗氧化剂，可改善肉质。为了研究 CGA 对氧化应激肉鸡肉质的保护作用，将 240 只 1 日龄雄性科布肉鸡分为 4 个处理组：基础日粮（对照组）、基础日粮+地塞米松（DEX）注射（DEX 组）、基础日粮添加 500mgkg CGA（CGA 组）和基础日粮添加 500mgkg CGA+DEX 注射（DEX_CGA 组）。检测肉鸡胸肌的肉质、抗氧化能力、核因子红细胞 2 相关因子 2（Nrf2）通路和代谢组学特征。然后，对肉质与抗氧化能力、抗氧化相关基因和代谢物之间的相关性进行分析。结果表明，CGA 补充剂通过激活 Nrf2 通路，改善了氧化应激肉鸡的生长性能和肉质特性（pH 值、WHC 和肉色），提高了抗氧化酶活性。共鉴定出 619 种代谢物，其中对照组和 DEX 组之间有 93 种差异代谢物，DEX 和 DEX_CGA 组之间有 65 种差异代谢物。DEX 处理改变了胸肌代谢谱，而 CGA 补充可以使 DEX 应激肉鸡的代谢变化正常化。代谢途径分析表明，DEX 和 DEX_CGA 组之间的大多数差异代谢物涉及嘧啶/嘌呤、丙酸和苯丙氨酸代谢、初级胆汁酸生物合成和赖氨酸代谢，这可能有助于解释 CGA 对肉质的保护作用。此外，根据相关性分析，鉴定出 4 种代谢物作为预测肉质的潜在生物标志物。综上所述，本研究结果表明，CGA 是一种有效的、天然的、安全的抗氧化剂，可提高集约化工业家禽生产的肉质。
