Effect of Dietary Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and Multi-Strain Probiotic on Growth and Carcass Traits, Blood Biochemistry, Immune Responses and Intestinal Microflora in Broiler Chickens.

Mehdi Qorbanpour,Faramin Javandel,Erwin Paz,Vito Laudadio,Alireza Seidavi,Taha Fahim,Mehran Nosrati,Marco Ragni,Vincenzo Tufarelli

doi:10.3390/ani8070117

Abstract

Simple SummaryIn the last decade, there has been growing interest in the use of natural herbs and probiotics as alternatives to antibiotics in feeds to improve animal productivity and to maximize their potential output. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of different levels of ginger powder and a commercial multi-strain probiotic in the diet on broiler performance, immune response, microbiota, haematology and carcass characteristics. Based on findings, dietary supplementation with both ginger or probiotics showed significant influence on birds’ immune response, probably because ginger had strong antioxidant activity and the probiotics stimulated the production of natural antibodies.A total of 225 day-old male broiler chicks (Ross-308) were randomly allocated to five treatment groups, with three replicates in a completely randomized design for 42 days. Birds were fed a basal-diet supplemented with: no additive (control-diet), multi-strain probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Enterococcus faecium and Bifidobacterium thermophilum), or 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25% ginger (Z. officinale) powder, respectively. The results show no significant differences among treatments for growth traits and carcass characteristics, whereas using probiotics and ginger at all levels resulted in a significant decrease of gizzard weight and abdominal fat compared to the control group. Dietary treatments did not affect blood biochemistry and antibody production against sheep red blood cells (SRBC), IgG and IgM; however, antibody titre was higher in birds fed 0.25% ginger than other diets after 7 days post injection. The Lactobacillus counts in ileal content of birds fed 0.20 and 0.25% ginger were higher compared to the other treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with either ginger or probiotics showed a significant influence on birds’ immune response, probably because ginger had strong antioxidant activity and the probiotics stimulated the production of natural antibodies.

Highlights

There has been an interest in improving poultry health by using environmentally-friendly products [1]
The results of this study demonstrated that dietary supplementation of ginger and probiotics did not affect the weight gain and feed efficiency of broilers
The inclusion of ginger in the diet reduced the abdominal fat and gizzard weight in a dose-dependent manner, revealing the greatest weight loss when birds were fed 0.25% ginger. These findings are consistent with the previous findings of Ademola et al [14] who reported that dietary supplementation with ginger in broilers reduced the relative weight of abdominal fat

Summary

Introduction

There has been an interest in improving poultry health by using environmentally-friendly products [1]. Under intensive production systems chickens are stressed mainly due to sudden changes in the environments (chilling or overheating), parasites, transportation and vaccination [2]. The combination of these factors negatively affects productive efficiency and carcass characteristics promoting permanent changes in intestinal microbiota and leading to immune system disequilibrium [3]. Live microbial feed preparations such as probiotics, prebiotics, or synbiotics play an important role in increasing the resistance to disease by improved immune response, thereby reducing the use of antibiotics [7,8]. Some probiotic microorganisms have been reported to produce different types of bacteriocins, organic acids and reuterin which act by preventing pathogen growth [9]

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Conclusion