Dietary Garlic (Allium sativum L.)Supplementation on Performance, Meat Quality and Lipid Profile in Broilers

Abstract

Abstract Garlic is known to be one of the natural feed additives which reduces serum cholesterol of broilers. This study was carried out to investigate the growth performances, carcass quality and lipid profile of broilers with different garlic incorporation levels. Four experimental diets were prepared by mixing garlic powder at the ratio of 0, 0.5, 1 and 2 kg/ton with a commercial broiler ration. Two hundred, day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four treatment diets with three replicates of sixteen birds each. Growth performances were reported weekly and carcass quality parameters and lipid profile of blood were measured at 42 d of age. Data were analyzed using one way Analysis of Variance in SAS. The highest (p<0.05) feed intake was observed in birds fed with zero garlic level. The highest weight gain and lowest feed conversion ratio were observed in birds fed with 1 kg/ton of garlic (p<0.05). However, there were no differences (p>0.05) in dressing percentages among birds fed with different diets. The lowest total serum cholesterol was reported for birds fed with 2 kg/ton garlic in diet followed by those fed with 1 kg/ton garlic in diet. Muscle protein contents were significantly higher (p<0.05) in birds fed with 1 kg/ton and 2 kg/ton levels of garlic in diet compared to zero and 0.5 kg/ton garlic levels. In conclusion, garlic powder is an excellent feed additive at the rate of 1 kg/ton to improve the broiler performances and meat quality while reducing their blood cholesterol.