Abstract:

This trial was conducted to study the effect of Monascus compound additives on growth performance and meat quality of broilers.The total of 400 one-day-old Avian broilers were randomly allotted into 4 groups with 5 replicates per group and 20 birds per replicate.The broilers in group Ⅰ(control group),were fed a basal diet,and those in experimental groups Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.5%,1% and 1.5% Monascus compound additives,respectively.The experiment lasted for 42 d.At the ending of the experiment,all the birds were weighted and two of each replicate were slaughtered,the samples from breast and leg muscles were taken for meat quality measurement.The results showed as follows:Compared with control group,the ADG increased significantly（P<0.05),and F/D decreased significantly（P<0.05）in group Ⅲ and Ⅳ,but the differences were not significant between group Ⅲ and Ⅳ(P>0.05);Compared with the control group,the muscle redness（a^*）and yellowness（b^*）in all the experimental groups increased significantly（P<0.05),and the drip loss rate decreased significantly（P<0.05),but the muscle lightness（L^*),cooking loss rate and shear force had no significant change（P>0.05),and pH_{24 h} of muscles in groups Ⅲ and Ⅳ reduced significantly（P<0.05).In conclusion,adding Monascus compound additives in diets could improve growth performance and meat quality in broiles, and the appropriate level should be 1%.

Key words: Monascus compound additive; broiler; growth performance; meat quality