Effects of Different Fat Sources On Energetics and Redox Status of Liver Mitochondria of Broilers in Chronic Heat-Stress Condition

Heat stress has adverse effects on livestock production, hence reducing benefits of them. With the viewpoint of reducing heat production within cells,an experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different sources of fat on mitochondrial energetics of broilers in chronic heat-stress condition. The consumed fat included: a)tallow; as a source of long-chain fatty acids, b)coconut oil; as a source of short and medium-length-chain fatty acids, c)olive oil; as a source of monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA)and d. soy oil; as a source of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). Broilers were under chronic heat stress (36 oc) from 32 to 42 d of the experiment. Broilers fed with tallow or coconut oil showed higher mitochondrial dehydrogenases activity, membrane potential and ROS production (p˂0.01) and lower glutathione concentration (p˂0.01) than those fed with olive oil or soy oil. The results seggest that in heat stress conditions using saturated fat sources especially those with long-chain fatty acids could help in reducing heat production inbroilers.