Effects of Phyllanthus emblica leaves and branches mixture on growth performance, oxidative status and intestinal characteristics in broiler chickens

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Phyllanthus emblica leaves and branches mixture (PE) on growth performance, oxidative status and intestinal characteristics in broilers, as well as the in vitro antioxidant potential of PE extract (PEE). As the result of in vitro evaluation, the PEE had a total phenolic compound content of 95.5 ± 2.75 mg of Gallic acid equivalent/g dry weight (DW), and a total flavonoid content of 3.04 ± 0.06 mg of quercetin equivalent/g DW. The PEE exhibited significant antioxidant activity through various mechanisms, including chelation of ferrous iron, reducing power, scavenging 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, inhibition of liposome peroxidation and trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC). A total of 320 Ross 308 broilers were randomly allocated into four groups: control, basal diet supplemented with 0.5%, 1%, 2% PE. Each group was fed for 35 d. The results showed that the group fed with 0.5% PE had significantly better weight gain, and improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared to the control group. Moreover, each PE group significantly reduced coliform and Clostridium perfringens in the ileum and caecum. Additionally, PE group with 0.5% concentration had significantly higher villus height in the jejunum compared to the other group. Furthermore, compared to the control group, each PE group had significantly lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and higher levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity in the serum. In the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of chickens, each PE group showed significantly higher mRNA levels of antioxidant-regulated genes, including Nrf2, GST, GCLC, SOD1 and HO-1. In contrast, the expression levels of NOX1 and ROMO1 genes were significantly lower. In conclusion, the inclusion of 0.5% PE in the basal diet could have a positive impact on the growth performance of broilers by modulating intestinal characteristics and oxidative status.