Abstract
ABSTRACT Although in-feed antibiotics work for broiler chicken´s growth, they are a source of public health hazard. Therefore, there is a need for alternates which can act as growth promoter without deleterious effects on the health of meat consumers. Moringa oleifera is one such phytobiotic which is reported to possess antimicrobial and immuno-modulatory properties. This study investigated the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) supplementation on meat quality and bone morphometry of broiler. One-day-old chicks (n=100), divided into five groups (four replicates with n=5), were fed a basal diet (control group) or same diet supplemented with 6, 9, 12 or 15 g/kg MOLP. On d-35, two birds per replicate were euthanized to collect samples of breast muscle, blood and tibia bone. The MOLP supplementation significantly increased pH of breast muscle and ash percentage of tibia bone. The diameter of breast muscle fibres and also weight and weight length index of tibia bone significantly increased with 12 and 15 g/kg MOLP. The water holding capacity (WHC) of breast muscle was significantly higher with 9 and 15 g/kg MOLP; whereas robusticity index of tibia bone significantly decreased with 12 and 15 g/kg MOLP inclusion compared to the control group. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (12g/kg) increased pH, water holding capacity, and muscle fibre diameter of breast muscle and also weight, ash percentage and density indices of tibia bone in broiler chickens.
Highlights
Broiler meat is an affordable source of protein with low levels of collagen, essential vitamins and minerals, but has lower fat content which makes it a healthier choice for consumers (Naji et al, 2013)
This study demonstrated the effects of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP) supplementation on meat quality and morphometric features of tibia bone in broilers
Water holding capacity (WHC) and meat pH are crucial qualitative traits of broiler meat which affect the appearance of the products as well as their juiciness, cooking losses (Karthivashan et al, 2015) and meat tenderness, a quality which mainly determines consumer preference (Lomiwes et al, 2014)
Summary
Broiler meat is an affordable source of protein with low levels of collagen, essential vitamins (mainly thiamin, vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid) and minerals (iron, zinc, and copper), but has lower fat content which makes it a healthier choice for consumers (Naji et al, 2013). These nutritional advantages made broiler meat a major part of our diets (Arshad et al, 2016) and increased the pressure on broiler industry for higher meat yield globally. Weight and ash percentage are good indicators of the bone health (Ziaie et al, 2011), which in turn depend on its mineral content especially calcium (Hafeez et al, 2014)
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