Homepage: http://ifstrj.um.ac.ir Full Research Paper Synbiotics as potentially growth promoter substitution for improving microbial and oxidative stability of Japanese quail meat B. Nasehi* 1 , M. Nooshkam 2 , M. Ghodsi 3 , A. Tatar 4 Received: 2022.07.02 Revised: 2023.01.09 Accepted: 2023.02.07 Available Online: 2023.03.09 How to cite this article: Nasehi, B., Nooshkam, M., Ghodsi, M., Tatar, A. (2023). Synbiotics as potentially growth promoter substitution for improving microbial and oxidative stability of Japanese quail meat. Iranian Food Science and Technology Research Journal. 18 (6), 127-139. Abstract The use of antibiotics in livestock breeding, especially poultry, leads to an increase in antibiotic resistance and human disorders. Therefore, researchers are seeking a good substitute to improve gut microbial balance, growth performance, and meat quality of livestock. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of diets containing different levels (0, 90, and 100%) of probiotic Fermacto (F), prebiotic Primalac (P), and their mixture on chemical, microbial, and sensory properties of Japanese quail meat. The F100 sample showed the highest color and odor scores; whilst, juicier feature was more dependent on prebiotic level. F100P100 and F90P90 ranked the highest meat flavor and overall acceptance scores, respectively. The lowest number of microorganisms and total coliforms were observed in F90P100 during storage. In general, the addition of synbiotics to the diet of Japanese quail led to improve in meat quality and decrease in microbial contamination besides controlled oxidation during refrigeration. Keywords: Japanese quail; Antibiotic; Synbiotic; Poultry; Meat quality. 1Introduction Nowadays, as a result of increasing population growth and food-borne illnesses, access to healthy and safe foods has become one of the main human concerns (Severino et al., 2015; Timmer, 2017). Protein sources such as meat play a key role in human nutrition (De Smet & Vossen, 2016). However, the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in today's societies caused by eating 1. Department of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, Payame Noor University (PNU), Iran. 2. Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Mashhad, Iran 3. Department of Food Science and Technology, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran. unhealthy foods such as red meat has increased the demand for white meat (Bronzato & Durante, 2017; Khademipoor et al., 2017). Poultry meat in comparison to other domestic animals has only 3.5 to 5% fat, which mostly includes unsaturated fatty acids (Marcinčák et al., 2008). Quail is a valuable and economical bird with significantly high breeding level in many countries, which can be a potential substitute to chicken due to some 4. Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran. (Corresponding Author Email: Nasehi.b@pnu.ac.ir) DOI: 10.22067/IFSTRJ.2023.77120.1191 ایرانییع غذایم و صناشهای علو پژوه نشریه جلد18 ، شماره6 ، بهمن- اسفند1401 ، ص. 139 - 127 Iranian Food Science and Technology Research Journal Vol. 18, No.6, Feb. Mrch. 2023, p. 127-139