Evaluation of Microalgae Utilization as an Ingredient for Broiler Feeding: A Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis evaluated the effects of dietary inclusion of microalgae on performance, health and quality of broiler chickens.A total of 18 journal articles obtained from the Scopus search engine were used as the database.Data of production performance, internal organs, blood hematological and serum metabolites, and fatty acid profiles in breast muscle were analyzed using linear mixed model methodology.Elevating microalgae levels in the diets did not affect feed intake, daily gain, organ weights, and health parameters of the blood.Dietary levels of microalgae had positive linear relationship (P<0.05) with C22:5n-3, C22:6n-3, and total omega-3 fatty acids levels in the breast meat of broilers while negatively affected (P<0.05)certain types of n-6 fatty acids.According to the type of microalgae, supplementing brown microalgae decreased the omega-6/omega-3 ratio (P<0.05),but no effects were found for the daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR) in broilers.In conclusion, microalgae supplementation in diet of broilers could be a promising approach to improve fatty acid profiles of the meat by elevating the omega 3 fatty acids while decreasing the omega 6, thus offers health benefits for human.The supplementation only limitedly affects production performance, internal organs and blood profiles of broilers.