Author:
Daramola O.T and Acheneje P.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
ABSTRACT
This study evaluated the influence of dietary supplementation with Carica papaya leaf meal (CPLM), Ocimum gratissimum leaf meal (OGLM), and Bryophyllum pinnatum leaf meal (BPLM) on the growth performance and physiological responses of broiler chickens. A standard basal diet was divided into four treatments: diet 1 served as the control, while diets 2, 3, and 4 were each supplemented with 0.2% of CPLM, OGLM, and BPLM, respectively. One hundred and twelve day old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to the four experimental diets (28 birds per diet), 7 birds per replicate using a Completely Randomized Design. At the conclusion of the feeding period, birds fed the CPLM-supplemented diet showed significantly greater body weight gain and improved feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05) compared to those on the control, OGLM, and BPLM supplemented diets. Birds fed the BPLM-supplemented diet exhibited higher (p < 0.05) white blood cell, granulocyte, and lymphocyte counts than those in other groups. In addition, serum cholesterol and glucose levels were notably reduced (p < 0.05) in the BPLM group relative to the control. Antioxidant enzyme activities, specifically glutathione peroxidase and catalase, were significantly elevated (p < 0.05) in the OGLM-fed group. Furthermore, birds fed any of the supplemented diets (CPLM, OGLM, BPLM) had lower levels of serum protein oxidation and thiobarbituric acid (p < 0.05) compared to the control. These findings suggest that 0.2% dietary supplementation of CPLM enhances growth performance, while all the phytogenic leaf meals at 0.2% contribute to reduced oxidative stress in broiler chickens.
| Pages | 87-92 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Volume | 5 |
