Physicochemical and blood profile supplemented with onion skin extract

Abstract

The use of growth promoters like antibiotics has been a major challenge in poultry industries because of resistance of microorganisms and carcass residue which affect the final consumer of poultry products. Plant extracts rich in antimicrobials and antioxidants have been documented to be substitute to growth promoters in poultry industries. Therefore, a four-week study was carried out to determine the effect of Onion Skin Extract (OSE) on the physicochemical and blood parameters of broiler chickens. One-hundred and sixty-eight four-week old Marshal broiler chicks were allotted in completely randomized design to four dietary treatments of T1 (control), T2 (100mg/kg OSE), T3 (200mg/kg OSE) and T4 (300mg/kg OSE). Each treatment was replicated six times with seven birds per replicate. Blood was collected from three birds per replicate before slaughtering for physicochemical evaluation of the carcass. Total cholesterol was lower (P < 0.05) in birds fed supplemented 300mgOSE/kg of feed compared with other treatments. Treatments T3 and T4 were statistically similar (P.>0.05) but significantly differed (P<0.05) from treatments T1 and T2 with respect to Packed cell volume. Haemoglobin, Eosinophils and Monocytes were not significantly affected by OSE supplementation. Oxidative rancidity was lower (P < 0.05) in broilers fed diets supplemented with OSE. Water holding capacity, pH and abdominal fat were not affected (P > 0.05) by OSE supplementation. It can be concluded that onion skin extract at 300mg/kg of feed reduced oxidative rancidity and did not negatively affect broiler blood parameters.