The non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in poultry production contributes to the spread of drug-resistant pathogens in both birds and humans. Antibiotics are known to enhance feed efficiency and promote the growth and weight gain of poultry. New regulatory requirements and consumer preferences have led to a reduced use of antibiotics in poultry production and to the discovery of natural alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. This interest is not only focused on the direct removal or inhibition of causative microorganisms but also on the prevention of diseases caused by enteric pathogens using a range of feed additives. A group of promising feed additives is composed of short- and medium-chain fatty acids (SCFAs and MCFAs) and their derivatives. MCFAs possess antibacterial, anticoccidial, and antiviral effects. In addition, it has been proven that these acids act in synergy if they are used together with organic acids, essential oils, or probiotics. These fatty acids also benefit intestinal health integrity and homeostasis in broilers. Other effects have been documented as well, such as an increase in intestinal angiogenesis and the gene expression of tight junctions. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of SCFAs and MCFAs as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters and to summarize the current findings in the literature to show their possible benefits on production, meat quality, and gut health in poultry.

Many farms have been replacing traditional lighting sources with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs because of technological modernization. We aimed to investigate the effects of incandescent lighting (IL) and LED lighting on Cobb 500 broiler chickens for six weeks. Production parameters (body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio), calculated slaughter values (yield%, relative breast%, thigh%) and breast meat quality parameters (pH at 45 min and 24 h postmortem, color, drip loss, kitchen equipment losses, shear force, meat composition) were recorded. Non-stop recordings were used to analyze the behavior of the birds during several periods of rearing. The LED group was significantly better in the body weight parameter between week 1 and 5 and the feed conversion ratio between week 2 and 3. The most significant difference in behavior was observed in the middle of the rearing period. The chickens in the LED group spent more time eating, drinking and interacting, and rested less. There was no difference in the meat quality parameters; only shear force was significantly lower in the LED group (1781.9 g/s vs. 2098.8 g/s). According to our results, LED lighting can bring about positive changes in animal production efficiency, behavior and other important characteristics for meat consumers.

The non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in poultry production contribute to the spread of drug-resistant pathogens in both birds and humans. Antibiotics are known to enhance feed effi-ciency and promote growth and weight gain of poultry. New regulatory requirements and con-sumer preferences have led to a reduced use of antibiotics in poultry production and discover natural alternatives to the antibiotic growth promoters. This interest is not just focused on the di-rect removal or inhibition of the causative microorganisms but also the prevention diseases caused by enteric pathogens using a range of feed additives. A group of promising feed additives is short- and medium-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. MCFAs possess antibacterial, anticoccidial and antiviral effects. Also, it has been proven that these acids act synergistically if they are used together with organic acids, essential oils, or probiotics. These fatty acids also benefit intestinal health integrity and homeostasis in broilers. Other effects have also been documented, including increases in intestinal angiogenesis and gene expression of tight junctions. The aim of this review is to give an overview of SCFA, MCFA as alternatives of antibiotic growth promoters and by sum-marizing the current finding in the literature, to show their possible benefits on production, meat quality and gut health in poultry.

The present study aimed to adapt a Long-run Real-time DNA Damage Quantification (LORD-Q) qPCR-based method for the analysis of the mitochondrial genome of Common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and detect the DNA damaging effect of T-2 (4.11 mg kg⁻¹) and deoxynivalenol (5.96 mg kg⁻¹) mycotoxins in a 3-week feeding period. One-year-old Common carp were treated in groups (control, T-2 and DON). The mycotoxins were sprayed over the complete pelleted feed, and samples were taken weekly. Following the adaptation of LORD-Q PCR method for the Common carp species, the number of lesions were calculated to determine the amount of DNA damage. In the first and second weeks, the T-2 and the DON treated groups differed significantly from each other; however these differences disappeared in the third week. There was a significant difference in the DNA lesion values between weeks 1 and 3 in the deoxynivalenol-contaminated groups. While in the T-2 treated groups, the DNA lesion values were significantly reduced on weeks 2 and 3 compared to week 1. The results suggested that the trichothecene mycotoxins have a relevant DNA damaging effect.

Many farms are replacing the lighting with light emitting diode (LED) bulbs because of the technological modernization. We aimed to investigate the effects of incandescent light (IL) and LED lighting on Cobb500 broiler chickens for six weeks. Production parameters (body weight, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio), calculated slaughter values (yield%, relative breast%, thigh%) and breast meat quality parameters (pH at 45 min and 24 h postmortem, color, drip loss, kitchen equipment losses, shear force, meat composition) were recorded. Non-stop recordings were used to analyze the behavior of the birds in several periods of the rearing. LED group was significantly better in body weigh parameter between week 1-5 and feed conversion ratio between week 2-3. The most significant difference in behavior was observed in the middle of the rearing period. The chickens in the LED group spent more eating time, drinking time, interacting, and resting less. There was no difference in the meat quality parameters, only shear force was significantly lower in the LED group (1781.95±0.33 g/s vs. 2098.82±0.42 g/s). Based on our results, LED lighting can bring positive changes in animal production efficiency, behavior, and important characteristics for meat consumers.

Az ízesített mézek, különösen az akácméz alapú variációk, egyre népszerűbbek a hazai és nemzetközi piacon. Kutatásunk célja az volt, hogy felmérje ezen termékekkel kapcsolatos fogyasztói ismereteket, vásárlói szokásokat, valamint kóstolás utáni megítélésüket. Az organoleptikus vizsgálat során ötféle ízesítést – levendula, meggy, fekete bodza, vízimenta, citromfű – tettünk ki vaktesztnek. A kérdőíves felmérés (308 fő) eredményei azt mutatják, hogy az ízesített akácmézek iránt jelentős fogyasztói érdeklődés mutatkozik, és a preferenciák szorosan kapcsolódnak a természetes összetevőkhöz, az egészségességhez, a harmonikus ízvilághoz, valamint a megbízható, helyi forrásból származó termékekhez. Az organoleptikus vizsgálat során citromfüves és levendulás mézek voltak legkedveltebbek több paraméter megítélésében, míg a bodzás, meggyes és különösen a vízimentás változatok inkább speciális, rétegigényeket elégítenek ki. Az ízesített mézek fejlesztése új lehetőségeket teremt a magyar méhészet számára, különösen a fiatal, egészségtudatos fogyasztók körében.