Egg Yolk IgY: A Novel Trend of Feed Additives to Limit Drugs and to Improve Poultry Meat Quality

Mohamed A Hussein; Ibrahim F Rehan; Ahmed F Rehan; Nesreen Z Eleiwa; Mootaz A M Abdel-Rahman; Sohaila G Fahmy; Ahmed S Ahmed; Mohammed Youssef; Hassan M Diab; Gaber E Batiha; Sara T Alrashood; Haseeb A Khan; Obeid Shanab; Eslam Ahmed; Hamdy Hassan; Asmaa Elnagar; Amr Elkelish; Abd El-Latif Hesham; Mohamed A Maky

doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.00350

Egg Yolk IgY: A Novel Trend of Feed Additives to Limit Drugs and to Improve Poultry Meat Quality

Front Vet Sci. 2020 Jul 14:7:350. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00350. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Mohamed A Hussein¹, Ibrahim F Rehan², Ahmed F Rehan¹, Nesreen Z Eleiwa³, Mootaz A M Abdel-Rahman⁴, Sohaila G Fahmy⁵, Ahmed S Ahmed⁶, Mohammed Youssef⁷, Hassan M Diab⁸, Gaber E Batiha⁹, Sara T Alrashood¹⁰, Haseeb A Khan¹¹, Obeid Shanab¹², Eslam Ahmed⁵, Hamdy Hassan¹³, Asmaa Elnagar¹⁴, Amr Elkelish¹⁵, Abd El-Latif Hesham¹⁶, Mohamed A Maky¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
² Department of Husbandry and Development of Animal Wealth, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Menofia University, Shebin Alkom, Egypt.
³ Department of Food Hygiene, Agricultural Research Center, Animal Health Research Institute, Giza, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Behavior, Management and Development of Animal Wealth, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Animal Behaviour and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Food Hygiene and Control (Milk Hygiene), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
⁷ Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
⁸ Department of Animal and Poultry Health and Environment, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
⁹ Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
¹² Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
¹³ Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
¹⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
¹⁵ Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt.
¹⁶ Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt.
¹⁷ Department of Food Hygiene and Control (Meat Hygiene), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.

Abstract

Drugs that are commonly used in poultry farms can potentially cause a detrimental effect on meat consumers as a result of chemical residues. Therefore, seeking a natural alternative is crucial for the health of the consumers. The egg yolk immunoglobulin Y (IgY) is a promising natural replacement for antibiotics in the broilers' diet. There is a scarce focus on the influence of probiotics and IgY on the quality and the nutritive values of broiler meat and whether it can efficiently displace the anti-microbial power of antibiotics. Herein we used 40 Ross chicks (1.2 ± 0.43 days old) and separated them into four groups with variant feed additives (basal diet "control," probiotic, IgY, and probiotic + IgY). Our findings showed that the combination of probiotic and IgY supplementation enhanced the carcass quality traits and decreased the pH values that could retard spoilage due to bacteria and improve shelf life and meat quality. The same group also achieved a significant reduction in thiobarbituric acid value, indicating an improvement of meat quality. Moreover, color, shear force, water holding capacity, and cooking loss were most acceptable in broiler meat supplemented with IgY, which confirmed the highest carcass quality. Notably, the weight gain in the combination group has been greatly increased. Also, the protein percentage was the highest (22.26 ± 0.29, P < 0.001) in this combined supplementation group, which revealed the highest nutritive values. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli could not be detected in the meat of the probiotics group and/or in the combined treatment group. Interestingly, the IgY group showed an evidence of the killing power (log colony-forming units per milliliter) of S. aureus and Listeria monocytogenes at 1,500 μg/ml. Our findings, in vitro as well as in vivo, revealed that the combination group had antimicrobial bioactivity and enhanced the chickens' immunity. Therefore, IgY, a novel trend of feed additives, can be used to limit drugs. Additionally, the mortality percentage recorded was zero in all groups that received feed supplementation, while the combination group reached the best financial advantages. We concluded that feeding IgY powder with probiotic is a frontier to improve the productivity, immunity, and meat quality of broilers.

Keywords: egg yolk IgY; feed additives; hygiene; meat quality; probiotic.