Effect of Azolla cristata with or without enzyme supplementation on blood biochemistry and intestinal histomorphology of broiler chicken

Abstract

A study was undertaken to determine the effect of partially replacing soybean protein with Azolla (AZ) with or without enzyme on blood biochemistry and intestinal histomorphology of broiler chicken. The experiment was performed on 210 Cobb broiler chicks randomly assigned to 7 treatment groups each replicated 3 times with 10 birds in each replicate. Basal diet was offered to the control (T1) group, whereas soybean protein was replaced with 5 (T2), 10 (T3) and 15% (T4) AZ and the other three groups, i.e. T5, T6 and T7 contained the respective inclusion levels of AZ, but were supplemented with cocktail enzyme. The results revealed that there was no statistical difference on blood glucose, cholesterol, protein, SGPT and SGOT levels among various treatment groups including control. Also there was a no significant effect in villus height (V), crypt depth (C) and V/C ratio among various treatment groups when compared to control. Highest villus height was observed in the control group (T1) and there was reduction in villus height in all the groups wherein AZ was included in the diet either alone or with enzyme supplementation. It is thus concluded that dietary inclusion of AZ had no adverse effect on the blood biochemistry and intestinal histomorphology when provided alone or in combination with enzyme supplementation, indicating that AZ could be included up to 15% level in the diet of broiler chicken without any adverse effect.