Table 6.

Effect of betaine (Bet) supplementation on carcass quality and organ weight in broilers.¹

	Low CP		High CP			CP		Bet		P-value
Items	Bet 0	Bet 0.12%	Bet 0	Bet 0.12%	SEM2	Low	High	0%	0.12%	CP	Bet	CP × Bet
pH value	5.33	5.37	5.33	5.36	0.05	5.35	5.35	5.33	5.37	0.9842	0.4899	0.9684
Breast muscle color
Lightness (L*)	54.76	54.28	55.14	54.41	0.53	54.52	54.78	54.95	54.35	0.6569	0.3048	0.8311
Redness (a*)	10.38	10.39	10.24	10.33	0.19	10.39	10.29	10.31	10.36	0.6307	0.7967	0.8496
Yellowness (b*)	8.45	8.59	8.55	8.37	0.19	8.52	8.46	8.50	8.48	0.7605	0.9163	0.4128
WHC3, %	55.36	55.13	56.61	55.48	1.48	55.25	56.05	55.99	55.31	0.8425	0.4405	0.5320
Cooking loss, %	18.43	18.45	18.45	18.46	0.55	18.44	18.46	18.44	18.46	0.9795	0.9738	0.9993
Drip loss, %
d 1	4.14	3.91	3.97	3.85	0.19	4.03	3.91	4.06	3.88	0.5631	0.3892	0.7923
d 3	8.87	8.77	8.85	8.73	0.17	8.82	8.79	8.86	8.75	0.8597	0.4868	0.9564
d 5	11.43	11.41	11.41	11.32	0.15	11.42	11.37	11.42	11.37	0.7314	0.7455	0.8416
d 7	14.07	14.00	13.93	13.56	0.17	14.04	13.75	14.00	13.78	0.0817	0.1744	0.3650
Relative organ weight4, %
Breast muscle	18.13	17.69	18.23	18.96	0.66	17.91	18.60	18.18	18.33	0.2857	0.8192	0.3652
Liver	2.87	2.87	2.90	2.93	0.07	2.87	2.92	2.89	2.90	0.5547	0.8128	0.7925
Bursa of Fabricius	0.16	0.18	0.17	0.16	0.01	0.17	0.17	0.17	0.17	0.8859	0.7379	0.2364
Abdominal fat	1.48	1.50	1.52	1.53	0.11	1.49	1.53	1.50	1.52	0.7266	0.8808	0.9964
Spleen	0.10	0.10	0.11	0.11	0.01	0.10	0.11	0.11	0.11	0.5833	0.9374	0.8138
Gizzard	1.08	1.12	1.13	1.17	0.05	1.10	1.15	1.11	1.15	0.2193	0.3637	1.0000

¹Low crude protein (CP) diet, 21 and 18% CP, 0.45 and 0.34% methionine for starter and finisher periods; high CP diet, 23 and 20% CP, 0.50 and 0.38% methionine.

²Standard error of means.

³Water holding capacity.

⁴Based on live body weight (average 2604, 2625, 2890, and 2810 g) per each treatment.