RESUMO
Objective: An experiment was conducted to study the effect of supplementing DL methionine (DL Met) at graded concentrations on performance, carcass variables, immune responses and antioxidant variables in broiler chicken fed folic acid (FA) fortified (4mg/kg) low-methionine diet. Methods: A basal diet (BD) without supplemental DL Met, but with higher level (4 mg/kg) of FA and a control diet (CD) with the recommended concentration of methionine (Met) were prepared. The BD was supplemented with DL Met at graded concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50% supplemental DL Met of CD). Each diet was fed ad libitum to 10 replicates of 5 broiler male chicks in each from 1 to 42 d of age. Results: Body weight gain (BWG) reduced, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) increased in broilers fed low-Met BD. At 30 and 20% inclusion of DL Met, the BWG and FCR were similar to those fed the CD. Similarly, supplementation of 10% DL Met to the BD significantly increased ready to cook meat yield and breast meat weight, which were similar to those of the CD fed broilers. Lipid peroxidation reduced, the activity of antioxidant enzymes (GSHPx and GSHRx) in serum increased and lymphocyte proliferation increased with increased supplemental DL Met level in the BD. The concentrations of total protein and albumin in serum increased with DL Met supplementation to the BD. Conclusion: Based on the data, it can be concluded that supplemental Met can be reduced to less than 50% in broiler chicken diets (4.40, 3.94 and 3.39g/kg, respectively in pre-starter, starter and finisher phases) containing 4 mg/kg FA.