Abstract An experiment was conducted to investigate the potential inclusion of a wet corn grain preserved with organic acids in a turkey diet. A total of 357 one-day-old Hybrid Converter female turkeys were divided into three groups, each consisting of seven replicates of 17 birds. Throughout the 114-day feeding period, the birds received wheat-soybean meal diets supplemented with the following: heat-dried corn at the level of 150 g/kg diet (T1), a half substitution of heat-dried corn with organic acid-preserved wet corn (T2), or total substitution with organic acid-preserved corn (T3). The final body weight (BW) averaged 11.5 kg, while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) averaged 2.44 kg feed/kg body weight gain (BWG). Compared with the control diet, neither partial nor total inclusion of chemically preserved corn significantly affected turkey performance, carcass characteristics and associated traits or mortality rates. The digestibility coefficients of dry matter (0.668 ± 0.005), crude fiber (0.192 ± 0.011), ash (0.408 ± 0.011), and the apparent total tract nitrogen retention (0.453 ± 0.010) were similar among the groups, while crude fat digestibility was significantly lower in T3 than in the control (0.854 vs. 0.807 ± 0.006). The dietary T2 and T3 applications of chemically preserved corn were associated with significantly lowered relative weight (2.50 and 2.12 g/kg BW, respectively, vs. 3.31 g/kg BW in T1) and lowered pH (6.44 and 6.35, respectively, vs. 6.72 in T1) of the cecal digesta. The T3 treatment significantly increased cecal bacterial activity of α-galactosidase and decreased that of α-arabinofuranosidase (in both cases, vs. T1 and T2). The activity of bacterial β-galactosidase was significantly enhanced in the T2 treatment vs. control, while cecal β-xylosidase activity was decreased in both the T2 and T3 groups vs. T1. Compared with the T1 group, concentrations of total cecal short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and pool of SCFAs were significantly decreased in T2 and T3 treatments. Feeding chemically preserved corn significantly increased the hemoglobin concentration (10.62 vs. 11.83–11.94 ± 0.23 g/dL), irrespective of the dosage. A significantly decreased peroxide blood concentration was observed following the T3 treatment vs. T1 and T2 treatments. Our findings indicated that organic acid-preserved wet corn at the level up to 150 g/kg diet can be used with no adverse effects on turkey growth performance, gut physiological status, and blood redox status. Therefore, treatment of high-moisture corn with organic acids represents a low-cost alternative to heat-dried corn grain.

中文翻译：

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火鸡饮食中化学保存的高水分玉米不会影响性能并保持肠道的功能状态

摘要 进行了一项实验，以研究在火鸡日粮中加入有机酸保存的湿玉米粒的可能性。总共 357 只 1 日龄杂交转化雌性火鸡被分成三组，每组由 17 只鸟的 7 个重复组成。在整个 114 天的饲养期内，这些鸡只接受小麦-豆粕日粮，并补充以下物质：150 g/kg 日粮（T1）水平的热干玉米，有机酸半替代热干玉米 -腌制湿玉米 (T2)，或完全替代有机酸腌制玉米 (T3)。最终体重 (BW) 平均为 11.5 公斤，而饲料转化率 (FCR) 平均为 2.44 公斤饲料/公斤体重增加 (BWG)。与对照饮食相比，部分或全部加入化学防腐的玉米都不会显着影响火鸡的性能、胴体特征和相关性状或死亡率。各组间干物质（0.668±0.005）、粗纤维（0.192±0.011）、灰分（0.408±0.011）和表观全道氮保留（0.453±0.010）的消化率系数相似，而粗脂肪消化率则为T3 中的显着低于对照（0.854 对 0.807 ± 0.006）。化学防腐玉米的日粮 T2 和 T3 应用与显着降低的相对重量（分别为 2.50 和 2.12 g/kg BW，相对于 T1 中的 3.31 g/kg BW）和降低的 pH 值（分别为 6.44 和 6.35，相对于 T1）相关。 6.72 在 T1) 的盲肠食糜。T3 处理显着增加了 α-半乳糖苷酶的盲肠细菌活性并降低了 α-阿拉伯呋喃糖苷酶的活性（在这两种情况下，与 T1 和 T2 相比）。细菌 β-半乳糖苷酶的活性在 T2 处理组与对照组相比显着增强，而盲肠 β-木糖苷酶活性在 T2 和 T3 组与 T1 组相比均降低。与 T1 组相比，T2 和 T3 处理中总盲肠短链脂肪酸 (SCFA) 的浓度和 SCFA 池显着降低。无论剂量如何，饲喂化学防腐的玉米都会显着增加血红蛋白浓度（10.62 与 11.83–11.94 ± 0.23 g/dL）。与T1和T2治疗相比，T3治疗后观察到过氧化物血液浓度显着降低。我们的研究结果表明，可以使用高达 150 g/kg 日粮的有机酸防腐湿玉米，对火鸡的生长性能、肠道生理状态和血液氧化还原状态没有不利影响。因此，用有机酸处理高水分玉米代表了热干玉米粒的低成本替代方案。