Nancy Sheoran

Nutrigenomic evaluation of garlic (Allium sativum) and holy basil (Ocimum sanctum) leaf powder supplementation on growth performance and immune characteristics in broilers

AIM In this study, a planned research work was conducted to investigate the nutrigenomic aspects of supplementation of Allium sativum (garlic) and Ocimum sanctum (holy basil) leaf powder on the growth performance and immune characteristics of broilers. MATERIALS AND METHODS A 6 weeks feeding trial was conducted with 280-day-old Ven Cobb broilers, distributed randomly into seven experimental groups. Each treatment had 4 replicates with 10 birds each. The birds of the control group (T1) were fed a basal diet formulated as per BIS standards. The broilers of treatment groups T2 and T3 were fed basal diet supplemented with the commercially available garlic powder (GP) at levels of 0.5% and 1.0% of the feed, respectively, while broilers in T4 and T5 were fed basal diet supplemented with commercial grade holy basil leaf powder (HBLP) at levels 0.5% and 1.0% of the feed, respectively. Birds in the T6 were fed with 0.5% GP and 0.5% HBLP, whereas T7 was fed with 1.0% GP and 1.0% HBLP. At the end of the feeding trial (6th week), blood samples were collected and analyzed for relative mRNA expression of toll-like receptors (TLR) 2, TLR 4 and TLR 7 using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS The mean body weight gain and feed conversion efficiency were improved (p<0.05) in broilers fed the GP and HBLP incorporated diets compared with the control group. The relative mRNA expression levels of TLR 2, TLR 4 and TLR 7 in the peripheral blood of the broilers were found to be increased (p<0.05) in the birds supplemented with graded levels of the GP and HBLP as compared to the untreated group. CONCLUSION The present work concludes that the inclusion of GP and HBLP could enhance the production performance and immune status of birds by augmenting the T-cell mediated immune response and thereby protects them from disease without decreasing growth traits as a possible substitution to conventional antimicrobials.

Effect of Emblica officinalis(amla) Fruit Powder on Morphometry of the Intestinal Mucosa in Broiler Chicken

To study the effect of dietary supplementation of amla fruit powder on morphometry of intestinal mucosa of broiler chicken. A total of 300 day old commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into six treatments having five replicates consisting of ten birds each. The chicks fed with standard basal diet in two different growth phases i.e. starter (0-28d) and finisher (29-42 d). The first group was kept as control (T1) and given basal diet without antibiotic, while second group (T2) was given basal diet with antibiotic. In third (T3), fourth (T4) , fifth (T5) and sixth (T6) groups, basal diet was supplemented with amla fruit powder @ 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75% and 1%, respectively. Then one bird from each replicate was slaughtered and ileal sample were collected for morphometric analysis. Mean villus height of the birds under different dietary treatments ranged from 984.56 µm to 1196.72 µm. Dietary supplementation of amla fruit powder increased the villi height and significant increment was observed in T6 followed by T5 and T4. Height: Depth of intestinal crypts of the birds under different dietary treatments ranged from 5.44 to 8.12 and significant effect on the ratio of Height: Depth of intestinal crypts was recorded in the 0.75% amla powder supplemented group (T5). The morphometric analysis results in the present study showed that the supplementation of antioxidants increased villus height but decreased crypt depth in broilers.

Assessment of Effects of Prebiotics Supplementation on Feed Intake, Egg and Serum Cholesterol Levels in White Leghorn Layers

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of supplementation of graded levels of prebiotics on feed intake, egg yolk cholesterol, serum cholesterol levels and internal egg quality parameters in White Leghorn layers. An experiment trial was run for a period of 16 weeks with eighty White Leghorn layers in the age group of 22–23 weeks of age were allotted randomly to four dietary treatments having 4 replications with 5 birds each. The control diet (T1) was formulated as per the BIS (2007) meeting the requirements for laying phase of the hens in the age group of 22–38 weeks. In addition, the birds in treatments T2, T3 and T4 were supplemented with prebiotics (containing mannonoligosacchrides of the Saccharomyces cell wall-47 g, formic acid (85%)-32 g, HSCAS upto 1 kg) @ 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 g/kg of feed, respectively. Laying hens receiving prebiotics exhibited improvement in feed conversion ratio of 3.83 and 7.34% in treatment groups T3 and T4, respectively compared to control. The prebiotics supplementation showed positive effect on internal egg quality parameters viz. albumen index, yolk index and Haugh unit in layers supplemented with graded levels of the prebiotics as compared to the control group. Maximum increase of 1.92% in albumen index and 2.06% in Haugh unit was observed in treatment T4 as compared to T1. However, no significant effect was observed for yolk index. Also, a significant (P<0.05) reduction was observed in the serum as well as egg yolk cholesterol and low density lipoproteins (LDL) concentrations while egg yolk high density lipoproteins (HDL) concentrations were not affected. Thus, the present study showed that administration of prebiotics had positive effect on serum and egg cholesterol levels without any changes in HDL levels.

Effect of Supplementation of Salts of Organic Acids on Serum and Haematological Parameters of Broilers

The growing demand for poultry products worldwide requires novel strategies that increase the efficiency of poultry production. Optimization of nutrient utilization is an essential element in such strategies. The growth is 10-12% in broilers per year and the per capita chicken consumption has gone up from 400 grams to 2.5 kg (APEDA, 2016). In previous years, the extensive uses of antibiotics in animal farms to promote growth rate, increasing feed efficiency and prevention of intestinal infections have led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and drug residuals in meat. But, now a days, various researchers have developed a number of non-therapeutic alternatives of antibiotics to improve the production performance of the animals. One of such alternatives is use of organic acids as feed additives in the animal production. Organic acids are organic carboxylic acid including fatty acids and amino acids, of the general structure R-COOH such as formic, acetic, propionic and butyric acids or carboxylic acids with the hydroxyl group such as lactic, malic, tartaric and citric acids or short-chain carboxylic acids containing double bonds like fumaric and sorbic acids (Shahidi et al., 2014). Health of the gut is one of the major factors governing the A trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary salts of organic acids for a period of 42 days on the serum parameters of broiler chicks. 300 commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into five treatments having six replicates consisting of ten birds each. A maize-soybean based diet was used as the basal diet (Control group). The basal diet was supplemented with salts of organic acids (sodium butyrate, calcium propionate @ 0.5% and 1%). Highest body weight gain (2338.2g.) was observed in the 1% sodium butyrate supplemented group and difference was significant (P<0.05) as compared to control group (1967.2g.). FCR was significantly improved in the supplemented groups as compared to control group. Inclusion of sodium butyrate and calcium propionate in the basal diet significantly increased serum phosphorus level while supplementation of organic acids showed no significant (P>0.05) difference in the concentration of serum cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL and calcium in all the treated groups. Dietary acidification significantly improved the haemoglobin value and RBC count and lowered the heterophils number. K e y w o r d s

Effect of Linseed Oil Feeding on Serum Lipids and Fatty Acid Profile of Breast and Thigh Muscle in Broiler Chicken

Three hundred, day-old, commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into 5 treatment groups with 6 replicates of 10 chicks in each replicate for a period of 6 weeks. The birds in control group (T1) were offered maize and soybean meal based diet having sunflower oil @ 4% and 5% in starter and finisher diet, respectively. While in treatments T2, T3, T4 and T 5 sunflower oil of basal diet was replaced with linseed oil @ 25, 50, 75 and 100%, respectively. The contents of palmitic acid and stearic acids in thigh muscle decreased (P<0.05) in treatment T4 and T5 as compared to control while SFA concentration of breast muscle decreased (P<0.05) in treatments having different levels of linseed oil. The linoleic acid and arachidonic acid content in both breast and thigh muscles decreased in treatments T3, T4 and T 5 than the control group. The n-3 PUFA linolenic acid content increased (P<0.05) in treatments T2, T3, T4 and T 5 as compared to control group. A significant increase (P<0.05) in n-3 PUFA and a decrease in n-6: n-3 ratio was noticed in breast and thigh muscle due to incorporation of linseed oil in the diets, the effect being more pronounced in treatment T5. Serum triglycerides level and cholesterol level was lower (P<0.05) in treatment T5 than control. There was no significant difference in serum HDL among the treatments while LDL level decreased (P<0.05) in T2, T3, T4 and T5 groups compared to control group. Thus, the inclusion of linseed oil in place of sunflower in broiler chcken diets enhanced beneficial long-chain n-3 PUFA and decreased ratio of n-6: n-3 FA in chicken breast and thigh muscle which could be advantageous for obtaining healthy chicken products.

Effect of Garlic (Allium sativum) and Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) Leaf Powder Supplementation on Growth Performance and Carcass Traits in Broiler Chicken

The experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of supplementing different levels of garlic and tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) leaf powder in diet on growth performance and carcass yields in broiler chicken. A total of 280 day-old commercial broiler chicks (Vencobb-400) were randomly distributed into seven treatments, each treatment had four replicates with ten chicks in each replicate. The control group T1 was fed a basal diet formulated as per BIS (2007) while in treatment groups T2 and T3 basal diet was supplemented with garlic powder @ 0.5 and 1%; T4 and T5 were supplemented with tulsi leaf powder @ 0.5 and 1%; and chicks of T6 and T7 were fed diets supplemented with combinations of garlic powder and tulsi leaf powder @ 0.5 and 1.0% of each, respectively. The body weight gain was (P<0.05) higher in broilers fed diet supplemented with combination of garlic powder and tulsi leaf powder as compared to other treatment groups. Feed intake was not affected significantly, however, feed conversion ratio improved (P<0.05) in supplemented groups with combinations of garlic powder and tulsi leaf powder at 0.5 and 1.0% of each as compared to other groups. The dressing and eviscerated per cent was higher (P<0.05) in supplemented groups with combinations of garlic powder and tulsi leaf powder at 0.5 and 1.0% of each and lowest in control group but the per cent of liver, heart and gizzard was similar in all the treatments. Per cent values for abdominal fat were lower (P<0.05) in 1% garlic powder, 1% tulsi leaf powder and combination of garlic powder and tulsi leaf powder at 0.5% each supplemented groups as compared to that with 1% combination supplemented group. Thus, supplementation of mixture of garlic and tulsi leaf powder at 0.5 each or 1.0% each in the broilers diet significantly improved body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, dressing yield, eviscerated per cent while lowering abdominal fat per cent without affecting feed intake.