Impact of Dietary Betaine and Metabolizable Energy Levels on Profiles of Proteins and Lipids, Bioenergetics, Peroxidation and Quality of Meat in Japanese Quail

Simple Summary Three hundred and sixty quails were divided into six groups to evaluate the effect of dietary betaine on profiles of proteins and lipids, bioenergetics, peroxidation and quality of meat of Japanese quail fed diets containing three levels of metabolizable energy (ME) viz. optimum (2900 kcal ME/kg), restricted (2800 kcal ME/kg) and low (2700 kcal ME/kg). Dietary betaine improved meat quality parameters viz. cooking loss, thawing loss and water-holding capacity of Japanese quail fed diets containing either restricted or low ME by enrichments of the meat with omega-3 fatty acids and reduction of lipids levels. Three different diets were formulated with three levels of metabolizable energy (ME) (optimum; 2900, restricted; 2800 and low; 2700 kcal ME/kg diet) without or with (0 and 0.15%) betaine supplementation in 2 x 3 factorial design to evaluate the effect of six experimental diets on performance, proteins and lipids profiles, bioenergetics, peroxidation and meat quality of Japanese quail. Therefore, 360 quails allocated into six groups in a 23-day experiment. Dietary betaine and ME levels did not affect the performance, meat energy indices (ATP and AMP) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of Japanese quail meat. Dietary betaine and/or ME levels induced significant changes in serum triacylglycerol (TAG), total cholesterols (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c), meat total lipids and cholesterol of Japanese quail. Optimum and restricted ME levels reduced total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) whereas dietary betaine increased ecosapentaenoic (EPA), docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) and glutamine concentrations in breast meat of Japanese quail. Dietary betaine and low energy diet improved cooking loss, thawing loss (ThL) and water holding capacity (WHC) in breast meat of Japanese quail. Conclusively, dietary betaine improved meat quality of Japanese quail fed diets containing either restricted or low ME by enrichments the meat with omega-3 fatty acids and reduction of lipids levels.

Automated summary

The study showed that dietary betaine improved meat quality of Japanese quails by reducing lipid levels and enriching omega-3 fatty acids, while also impacting blood lipid profiles and meat lipid composition. The levels of metabolizable energy and betaine supplementation were found to have significant effects on various parameters in Japanese quail.