Mentha piperita (peppermint) in growing Japanese quails’ diet: Serum biochemistry, meat quality, humoral immunity

Abstract

Abstract In this experiment, the effect of dietary Mentha piperita L. (MP, peppermint) on biochemical blood parameters, meat quality, and humoral immunity responses of growing Japanese quails were evaluated. A total of 360 seven-day-old quail chicks were fed six experimental diets (with 5 replicates and 12 birds each) including control positive (basal diet + antibiotic), control negative (basal diet), MPI (basal diet + 10 g/kg MP), MPII (basal diet + 20 g/kg MP), MPIII (basal diet + 30 g/kg MP), and MPIV (basal diet + 40 g/kg MP) for 5 weeks. At the end of experiment, two birds in each replicate were sacrificed for blood sampling and assessment of meat quality. The birds were injected with sheep red blood cell (SRBC, at days 18 and 28 for primary and secondary responses) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV, at day 14) antigens. Concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were decreased in birds received dietary peppermint but the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) increased (P