Effect of chitin and chitosan on nutrient digestibility and plasma lipid concentrations in broiler XXXX .

@entity844 @entity2829 @entity1674 @entity1573 @entity1017 @entity165
Broiler @entity1573 were fed on a control diet based on @entity2829 and @entity2829 starch or diets containing chitin, or 94, 82 or 76% deacetylated chitin (chitosans) with different viscosities (360, 590 and 620 m Pa.s respectively) at an inclusion level of 30 g/kg. Animals had free access to feed and water for the whole experimental period. On days 10 and 18 of the experiment @entity1573 given the control and chitin-containing diets weighed more, had consumed more feed and had lower feed conversion ratios (g feed/g @entity1017 ) than chitosan-fed birds. Feeding of chitosan-containing diets generally reduced total plasma @entity165 and high-density-lipoprotein (HDL)- @entity165 concentrations and gave an increased HDL:total @entity165 ratio in comparison with @entity1573 given the control and chitin-containing diets. However, no significant reductions in plasma @entity1674 concentrations resulting from feeding of the chitosan-containing diets were observed. The reduction in total @entity165 concentration and increased HDL:total @entity165 ratio were probably caused by enhanced reverse @entity165 transport in response to intestinal losses of dietary fats. The suggestion that dietary fat absorption was impeded by the chitosans was strengthened by the observation that ileal fat digestibility was reduced by 26% in comparison with control and chitin-fed animals. In a plasma @entity1674 response study on day 21, feeding of 94 and 76%-chitosan-containing diets generally reduced postprandial @entity1674 concentrations compared with @entity1573 given the chitin-containing diet. Duodenal digestibilities of nutrients amongst @entity1573 given the chitin-containing diet were generally lower than those of control and chitosan-fed birds indicating decreased intestinal transit time. The reduced caecal short-chain @entity844 concentrations of @entity1573 given chitosan diets compared with the control diet illustrates the antimicrobial nature of chitosan. The fact that the three chitosan-containing diets affected the registered variables similarly indicated that the level of inclusion of chitosans in the diet exceeded the level at which the effect of the different viscosities could be significant.
