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Reconsidering betaine as a natural anti-heat stress agent in poultry industry: a review

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Abstract

Betaine is found ubiquitously in plants, animals, microorganisms, and rich dietary sources including seafood, spinach, and wheat bran. The chief physiological role of betaine is to function as a methyl donor and an osmolyte. Betaine also acts as an osmolyte, to maintain the avian’s cellular water and ion balance to improve the avian’s capacity against heat stress via preventing dehydration and osmotic inactivation. It helps in maintaining the protective osmolytic activity, especially in heat-stressed birds. Betaine may promote various intestinal microbes against osmotic variations and thus improve microbial fermentation activity. Previous studies showed that dietary supplementation of betaine in poultry diets could positively affect nutrients’ digestibility, reduce abdominal fat weight, and increase breast meat yield. In addition, betaine has been reported to protect internal organs and boost their performance. Its inclusion in poultry diet is sparing essential amino acids like choline and methionine. In addition, it may play an important role in lean meat production by positively affecting the lipid metabolism with increased fatty acids catabolism and thus reducing carcass fat deposition. The aim of this review article was to broaden the knowledge regarding betaine and its importance in the poultry industry to cope with the heat stress problem. Moreover, it should be added to the diet as a natural anti-stressor through different routes (water/feed) to overcome the heat stress problem. However, further studies need to be conducted at the genetic and molecular basis to elucidate the mechanism behind the betaine as a natural anti-heat agent to decrease the heat stress problem in the poultry industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Animal Sciences and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Asif Arain & Sun Chao

  2. Young Researchers and Elite Club, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

    Daryoush Babazadeh

  3. Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Basic Medicine and Clinical Pharmacy, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 211198, China

    Muhammad Naveed

  4. Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Balochistan, 3800, Pakistan

    Muhammad Asif Arain

  5. Institute of Animal and Dairy Sciences, Faculty of Animal Husbandry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Faiz Ul Hassan

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Saeed, M., Babazadeh, D., Naveed, M. et al. Reconsidering betaine as a natural anti-heat stress agent in poultry industry: a review. Trop Anim Health Prod 49, 1329–1338 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-017-1355-z

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