Feeding Malic Acid to Chickens at Slaughter Age Improves Microbial Safety with Regard to <i>Campylobacter</i>

• Main Authors: Fangzhe Ren, Wenbin Yang, Juanjuan Hu, Pingyu Huang, Xin-An Jiao, Jinlin Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: poultry production; malic acid; <i>Campylobacter</i>; microbial safety
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/7/1999

This study supplied malic acid-supplemented drinking water to flocks that were naturally <i>Campylobacter</i>-positive and assessed the effect of feeding malic acid to chickens on <i>Campylobacter</i> reduction and poultry production. In Experiment 1, chickens were provided with malic acid-supplemented drinking water for three weeks. The contamination loads of <i>Campylobacter</i> were decreased by 0.91–0.98 log after the first week of use (<i>p</i> < 0.05). However, this effect did not persist over time and significant decontamination could not be found in the second and third weeks of application. Thus, in Experiment 2 malic acid-supplemented drinking water was given to chickens for a period of five days at slaughter age. The <i>Campylobacter</i> carriage was found to be effectively decreased by 1.05–1.55 log (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Malic acid had no adverse effects on chicken body weight, weight gain, intestinal indices, or the microbiota. In addition, it could change the composition of chicken meat since the moisture content was increased by 5.12–5.92% (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and the fat content was decreased by 1.60% (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Our study provides an effective means for reducing the contamination of <i>Campylobacter</i> during the chicken rearing period and this method can be applied to promote the safe development of poultry farming and its products.