Table 4 Morphometric, densitometric and mechanical properties of femur in 112-day old turkeys from the positive and negative control groups (Group I and Group II), and the groups receiving diet experimentally enriched with 125 (Group III), 250 (Group IV), 500 (Group V) and 1000 (Group VI) FTU/kg of Escherichia coli phytase

Bone weight (g)

37.41 ± 0.91^ab

34.44 ± 1.34^b

37.89 ± 1.64^ab

34.49 ± 0.62^b

39.58 ± 1.70^a

38.84 ± 0.86^a

Bone length (mm)

145.4 ± 1.0^a

146 ± 1.15^a

145.9 ± 1.1^a

146.1 ± 0.9^a

149.8 ± 1.7^b

148.4 ± 1.0^ab

Bone volume (cm³)

17.27 ± 0.74^ab

15.62 ± 1.00^ab

17.17 ± 1.13^ab

15.20 ± 0.37^a

18.06 ± 1.06^b

17.52 ± 0.7^ab

Cortical bone area (mm²)

89.0 ± 2.4^a

80.75 ± 2.8^b

72.6 ± 2.5^c

70.3 ± 1.5^c

69.5 ± 1.7^c

71.3 ± 3.2^c

Cross-sectional area (mm²)

77.1 ± 3.5^a

76.3 ± 4.3^a

100.2 ± 4.3^b

79.5 ± 2.8^a

83.7 ± 2.4^a

88.7 ± 6.4^a

Second moment of inertia (mm⁴)

2476 ± 177^ab

2029 ± 148^a

3338 ± 254^c

2269 ± 105^ad

2703 ± 133^bde

3172 ± 258^ce

Mean relative wall thickness

0.213 ± 0.010^a

0.234 ± 0.016^a

0.269 ± 0.007^b

0.220 ± 0.011^a

0.217 ± 0.007^a

0.206 ± 0.016^a

Cortical index

17.5 ± 0.6^a

18.8 ± 1.0^a

21.1 ± 0.4^b

17.9 ± 0.7^a

17.8 ± 0.4^a

16.9 ± 1.1^a

Trabecular bone density (g/cm³)

0.839 ± 0.028^ab

0.844 ± 0.019^ab

0.893 ± 0.021^a

0.823 ± 0.015^b

0.847 ± 0.017^ab

0.854 ± 0.015^ab

Cortical bone density (g/cm³)

1.967 ± 0.060^ab

1.925 ± 0.040^a

2.065 ± 0.037^bc

2.145 ± 0.048^c

2.135 ± 0.039^c

2.091 ± 0.043^bc

Mean volumetric bone mineral density (g/cm³)

1.592 ± 0.019

1.546 ± 0.019

1.556 ± 0.031

1.595 ± 0.023

1.575 ± 0.021

1.543 ± 0.018

Maximum elastic strength (N)

242 ± 14^a

305 ± 21^ab

330 ± 21^b

350 ± 30^b

295 ± 11^ab

266 ± 26^a

Ultimate strength (N)

526 ± 42

576 ± 35

586 ± 28

575 ± 43

569 ± 40

493 ± 44