Effects of tea polyphenols on lipid metabolism and hepatic and muscular fatty acid compositions in broilers

In this study, a total of thirty six 28-day old broilers were randomly divided into 3 groups, and then were subjected to an oral administration of GTPs at a dosage of 0, 80, and 160 mg/kg of body weight for 28 days. Our results showed that GTPs significantly decreased the abdominal fat rate, subcutaneous fat thickness and intramuscular fat width, and improved the serum lipid level in experimental birds. The lipid contents of liver, thigh and breast muscle in GTPs treated broilers were notably increased compared to that of control group.And GTPs treatments also significantly decreased the ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids ( MUFAs) and increased the ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs) in the livers and thigh muscles of chickens.Specifically, compared to the control group, 160 mg/kg GTPs notably increased the ratio of arachidonic acid, docosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid by 50.5% ( p < 0.001) , 32.8% ( p < 0.05) and 48.4% ( p < 0.05) , respectively, in the liver of birds, and the ratio of these three PUFAs in thigh muscle were significantly increased by 83.7% ( p < 0.01) , 86.0% ( p < 0.01) and 78.3% ( p < 0.05) , respectively. In conclusion, GTPs could improve the regulation of lipid metabolism, and to some extent enhanced the nutritious quality of chicken in broilers.