Current Nutritional Approaches to Maintain and Improve Broiler Meat Quality: Part-2 Functional Feed Additives

The worldwide consumption of poultry meat is expected to increase due to its high protein content, low fat concentration, and ease of digestion. Numerous functional feed additives, including probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, organic acids, phytobiotics, natural antioxidants, vitamins, and trace minerals, have gained great attention due to their impact on performance, gut health, immunity, and meat quality. Therefore, the objective of the present review is to critically evaluate the role of functional feed additives in improving meat physicochemical quality, nutritional value, and oxidative stability in broilers. Probiotics and prebiotics consistently improved water-holding capacity and reduced cooking loss and shear force, whereas their effects on pH and color were more variable across studies, and they enhanced the meat's nutritional profile by increasing polyunsaturated fatty acids and lowering saturated fatty acids. Although the effects of synbiotics and organic acids on physical traits can be inconsistent, they effectively modified the fatty acid profile toward essential healthy fats and improved the oxidative stability of meat. Phytobiotics and natural antioxidants (such as polyphenols and flavonoids) improved water-holding capacity and tenderness as well as suppressed meat lipid oxidation through the activation of antioxidative enzymes and the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway. Furthermore, the incorporation of trace elements like Se, Zn, and Mn in the form of organic minerals or nanoparticles improved physical meat characteristics, nutritional value, oxidative stability, and shelf life of meat. Notably, combined or matrix-based strategies (such as synbiotic formulations, organic acid-phytogenic blends, and vitamin-mineral matrices) are increasingly used in commercial poultry nutrition and, in several of the studies reviewed, produced favorable effects on meat quality; however, with the exception of studies employing a dose-titrated or factorial design, the cited literature generally did not include a direct single-component comparator arm, so whether these combinations act synergistically rather than additively remains to be formally established. It can be concluded that functional feed additives, whether applied singly or in strategic combination, provided several benefits for the poultry industry by enhancing physicochemical properties of meat and reducing biochemical markers of oxidative deterioration, outcomes consistent with, though not a direct substitute for, extended shelf life of meat.