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Review
. 2020 Dec 7;41(1):1-29.
doi: 10.1080/01652176.2020.1857887.

Nutritional significance of amino acids, vitamins and minerals as nutraceuticals in poultry production and health - a comprehensive review

Mahmoud Alagawany  1 , Shaaban S Elnesr  2 , Mayada R Farag  3 , Ruchi Tiwari  4 , Mohd Iqbal Yatoo  5 , Kumaragurubaran Karthik  6 , Izabela Michalak  7 , Kuldeep Dhama  8
Affiliations
Review

Nutritional significance of amino acids, vitamins and minerals as nutraceuticals in poultry production and health - a comprehensive review

Mahmoud Alagawany et al. Vet Q. .

Abstract

Nutraceuticals have gained immense importance in poultry science recently considering the nutritional and beneficial health effects of their constituents. Besides providing nutritional requirements to birds, nutraceuticals have beneficial pharmacological effects, for example, they help in establishing normal physiological health status, prevent diseases and thereby improve production performance. Nutraceuticals include amino acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc. which are important for preventing oxidative stress, regulating the immune response and maintaining normal physiological, biochemical and homeostatic mechanisms. Nutraceuticals help in supplying nutrients in balanced amounts for supporting the optimal growth performance in modern poultry flocks, and as a dietary supplement can reduce the use of antibiotics. The application of antibiotic growth enhancers in poultry leads to the propagation of antibiotic-resistant microbes and drug residues; therefore, they have been restricted in many countries. Thus, there is a demand for natural feed additives that lead to the same growth enhancement without affecting the health. Nutraceuticals substances have an essential role in the development of the animals' normal physiological functions and in protecting them against infectious diseases. In this review, the uses of amino acids, vitamins and minerals as well as their mode of action in growth promotion and elevation of immune system are discussed.

Keywords: Poultry; amino acids; chicken; designer food; health; minerals; nanoparticles; nutraceuticals; organic mineral; vitamins.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Effect of aminoacids – methionine and threonine on poultry health: (1) Methionine participates in synthesis of protein, (2) Methionine is a glutathione precursor, (3) Methionine is required for the polyamines (spermine and spermidine) synthesis that takes part in nucleus and cell division events, and (4) Methionine is the most important methyl group donor for methylation reactions of DNA and other molecules.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Beneficial effects of different vitamins on poultry health.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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