Volume 165, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 87-94
a
Department of Animal Resource and Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714, South Korea
b Swine Science and Technology Center, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju 660-758, South Korea
c Department of Animal Resources Technology, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju 660-758, South Korea
b Swine Science and Technology Center, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju 660-758, South Korea
c Department of Animal Resources Technology, Gyeongnam National University of Science and Technology, Jinju 660-758, South Korea
Abstract
An experiment was
conducted to evaluate the effect of 3 plant extracts, Saposhnikovia
divaricata extract (SDE), Lonicera japonica extract (LJE), and Chelidonium majus
extract (CME) on growth performance, blood cell profiles, and meat
quality in broilers. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the
compounds of phenolic acids and flavonoids was performed by high
performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection for
characterization of the selected extracts. Total amounts of phenolic
acids and flavonoids in the extracts were in the order of LJE, CME, and
SDE. These extracts were added at a rate of 0.2% to the starter and
finisher basal diets of broilers, and a feeding study was conducted in
battery cages for a period of 5 week. A total of 240, one-day-old male
Arbor Acres broilers were allotted to 4 treatments with 4 replicate
cages and 15 broilers per cage. The results indicated that daily weight
gain was greater in the CME treatment groups and the plant extract
treated groups (SDE+LJE+CME) than the control group (P=0.044, P=0.036,
respectively), while feed intake was not different among the groups. The
feed conversion of broilers fed the SDE-supplemented diets was lower
than the control groups (P=0.044). White blood cells, neutrophils,
lymphocytes, monocytes, and eosinophils in broilers fed the LJE, CME,
and plant extract-supplemented diets (SDE+LJE+CME) were greater than
those fed the control diets (P<0.05). In addition, red blood cells,
hemoglobin, and hematocrit were also elevated in broilers fed the LJE
diets. Volatile basic N and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance
values of broiler breast meat was reduced by the addition of LJE or CME,
respectively (P=0.036, P=0.023, respectively). No changes were observed
in the meat color, pH, cooking loss, drip loss, fatty acid
concentrations, and texture properties, except for the adhesiveness of
broiler breast meat, which was increased by the addition of SDE, LJE,
and plant extract-supplemented diets (SDE+LJE+CME) compared with the
control (P<0.001). These results indicate that supplementation of
these plant extracts in the broiler diet may potentially improve weight
gain, blood cell profiles, and meat qualities. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Author keywords
Blood cell profile; Broiler; Growth performance; Meat quality; Plant extract
Indexed keywords
Species Index: Chelidonium; Chelidonium majus; Lonicera japonica; Saposhnikovia divaricata