Abstract
The present study was conducted to determine the efficacy of licorice extract (LE) supplementation through drinking water as an alternative to an in-feed antibiotic growth promoter. A total of 400, 1-day-old broiler chickens (Cobb 500) were randomly divided into 20 separate floor pens each comprising 20 chickens and 4 pens (replicates) per treatment in a completely randomized design. The treatments included a control (no input), a diet containing 5 mg/kg antibiotic (lincomycin), and drinking water supplemented with 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 g/L of LE, respectively. The body weight, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were not significantly different among treatment groups (P > 0.05). Birds given drink water supplemented with 0.3 g/L of LE had significantly decreased abdominal fat percentage relative to control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, comparing with control, serum concentrations of glucose, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol were decreased by LE supplementation at all three tested levels (P < 0.05). Dietary supplemental of antibiotics also caused significant decreases in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.05). These results clearly showed that LE supplementation via drinking water had beneficial and positive influences on carcass quality and blood biochemical parameters of broiler chickens. However, because no significant difference was observed on growth performance among the broilers given the control, antibiotic, or the LE levels, further research is still needed to confirm the present results and to test the efficacy of LE as an alternative to an in-feed antibiotic growth promoter.
Highlights
In-feed antibiotics have been used in the poultry industry to maintain health and production efficiency in the last few decades
Carcass yield was calculated as a percentage, i.e., eviscerated carcass weight without neck, giblets, and abdominal and gizzard fats divided by live body weight before evisceration
The serum concentration of glucose decreased in broilers that received in-feed antibiotics and those given 0.2 and 0.3 g/L of licorice extract (LE) through drinking water (P < 0.05), whereas serum triacylglycerols and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations were not significantly affected by treatments (P > 0.05)
Summary
In-feed antibiotics have been used in the poultry industry to maintain health and production efficiency in the last few decades. Aoki et al [10] showed an increase in lean body mass and a decrease in abdominal fat pad as a physiological effect of LFO that stimulates lipid breakdown in adipocytes. These findings have been confirmed in successive studies [11, 12]. Despite such beneficial effects, the impacts of LE on body weight gain of broilers in association to different blood parameters are not fully known. The current study presents a trial using LE supplementation in drinking water, as a potential antimicrobial agent, to improve production performance, carcass quality, and blood parameters in broiler chickens
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