Dose titration of plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on growth performance, serum antioxidants status, liver enzymatic activity and meat quality in broiler chickens

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and nutritional composition of experimental diets.

Ingredients in basal diet	Amounts (%)
Corn (7.9% CP)	55.70
Rice polish (13.7% CP)	4.00
Soybean meal (44.1% CP)	30.79
Pro-Pak^a (60% CP)	5.20
Rice bran oil	2.00
Limestone dust	0.44
DL-methionine-99%	0.53
L-Lysine-79%	0.42
Threonine-98.5%	0.22
Choline chloride 60%	0.20
Sodium bicarbonate	0.20
Sodium chloride	0.22
Vitamin-mineral premix^b	0.08
Nutrient composition	CON	Plantain supplemented groups			Plantain^c
		PL40	PL80	PL120
Analysed chemical composition, g/100 g DM
Dry matter	88.72	89.22	89.72	90.22	12.53
Crude protein	23.30	23.38	23.46	23.54	15.82
Crude fibre	4.57	4.64	4.71	4.78	14.19
Ether extract	3.98	3.99	4.01	4.03	3.05
Nitrogen free extract	49.81	50.08	50.34	50.61	53.08
Ash	8.52	8.59	8.66	8.73	13.86
ME, Kcal/kg^d	3081	3087	3093	3103	2023
Calcium	0.91	0.92	0.93	0.94	1.81
Available phosphorus	0.54	0.54	0.54	0.55	0.41
Iron	0.0146	0.0150	0.0154	0.0158	0.08
Calculated fatty acid profile, g/100 g fat
Saturated fatty acid	19.97				20.40
Unsaturated fatty acid	80.03				79.61
MUFA	36.53				92.88
PUFA	41.82				7.12
Phytochemical profile, mg/g DM
Acteoside		1.48	2.96	4.44	29.56
Aucubin		0.86	1.73	2.59	17.26
Catalpol		0.24	0.47	0.71	4.69

MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids.

CON: corn-soya based basal diet; PL40: CON + 40 g fresh plantain/kg diet, PL80: CON + 80 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL120: CON + 120 g fresh plantain/kg diet.

^aPro-Pak is a protein concentrate manufactured by H. J. BAKER & BRO., LLC, USA which contained: DM, 94.80%; CP, 60%; CF, 8.1%; Phosphorus, 2.2%; Calcium, 4.0%; Ash, 12.3%; ME, 2865 Kcal/kg; Pepsin digestibility, 90.0%.

^bEach kg vitamin mineral premix contained: Vitamin A, 13.500 U; Vitamin D₃, 1.500 U; a-DL-Tocopherolacetate, 50 mg; Menadion, 2 mg; Thiamine, 3 mg; Riboflavin, 5 mg; Pyridoxin, 4 mg; Cobalamine, 15 pg; Folsaure, 200 pg; Nicotenic acid, 60 pg; Ca-PLtothenate, 30 mg; Cholin, 750 mg; Ascorbic acid, 150 mg.

^cFatty acid profile of plantain adopted from Guil‐Guerrero (2001).

^dCalculated value.

Figure 1. Effect of different level of fresh plantain herb (PL; Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on live weight gain of broilers at 35 days: (a) linear regression; (b) quadratic regression.

Table 2. Effects of different level of plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on performance index of broiler chickens at 35 days.

Parameters	CON	Plantain supplemented groups			SEM	p-Value
		PL40	PL80	PL120		Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Initial LW, g	45 ± 0.70	45 ± 0.50	45 ± 0.80	44 ± 1.00	0.23	.348	.141	.977
Final LW, g	1574^c±7	1645^b±10	1681^a±9	1699^a±11	14.69	.000	.001	.389
LWG, g	1529^c±7	1600^b±9	1635^a±8	1655^a±12	14.74	.000	.001	.395
FI, g	2672^c±16	2727^a±24	2704^ab±20	2726^a±29	8.72	.042	.255	.066
FCR (feed:gain)	1.74^a±0.01	1.70^b±0.01	1.65^c±0.01	1.64^c±0.02	0.01	.000	.082	.265
Mortality, %	2.33^a±0.58	1.00^b±0.00	1.00^b±0.00	1.00^b±0.00	0.24	.003	.050	.620
PEF, %	304.8^c±4.45	331.9^b±3.21	350.9^a±6.32	356.6^a±6.96	6.24	.000	.009	.732

LW: live weight; LWG: live weight gain; FI: feed intake; FCR: feed conversion ratio; PEF: production efficiency factors; SEM: standard error mean.

CON: corn-soya based basal diet having CP = 23.30% and ME = 3081 Kcal/kg diet; PL40: CON + 40 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL80: CON + 80 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL120: CON + 120 g fresh plantain/kg diet.

^abcMean values with dissimilar superscripts differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 3. Effect of different level of fresh plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on plasma lipid profile, plasma antioxidants and liver enzymatic activity of broilers at 35 days.

Parameters	CON	Plantain supplemented groups			SEM	p-Value
		PL40	PL80	PL120		Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Plasma lipid profile, mg/dL
Triglyceride	60.67^a±0.28	58.50^b±1.0	55.08^c±0.52	57.50^b±1.00	0.63	.000	.001	.007
T-Cholesterol	84.75 ± 3.03	84.73 ± 0.68	82.50 ± 1.00	82.00 ± 1.32	0.58	.051	.818	.410
HDL	49.50^c±1.00	51.50^b±0.87	53.17^a±0.76	52.00^ab±0.50	0.45	.002	.009	.263
LDL	23.12^a±2.03	21.53^ab±0.25	18.32^c±1.50	18.50^bc±1.99	0.73	.003	.372	.262
VLDL	12.13^a±0.06	11.70^b±0.20	11.02^c±0.10	11.50^b±0.20	0.13	.000	.001	.007
Plasma antioxidants status, mg/dL
SOD	1.83^c±0.03	1.85^bc±0.02	1.91^a±0.03	1.90^ab±0.03	0.01	.005	.363	.152
GPx	33.45^b±1.79	36.04^ab±1.28	38.83^a±0.91	38.49^a±1.96	0.76	.002	.139	.427
Catalase	41.17^c±0.96	44.03^b±1.35	46.89^a±1.00	44.66^ab±1.43	0.68	.003	.006	.140
Liver enzymatic activity, U/L
AST	182.26^a±4.91	174.18^b±2.11	167.18^c±3.00	170.69^bc±1.05	1.85	.001	.012	.276
ALT	15.60^a±0.98	12.22^b±0.72	10.27^c±0.54	11.72^b±0.65	0.62	.000	.000	.332
ALP	183.79^b±2.09	192.96^a±3.81	191.79^a±1.49	188.52^a±0.54	1.21	.061	.002	.204
AST:ALT	11.71^c±0.78	14.28^b±0.76	16.30^a±0.63	14.60^b±0.92	0.53	.001	.001	.153

HDL: high density lipoprotein; LDL: low density lipoprotein; VLDL: very low density lipoprotein; SOD: superoxide dismutase; GPx: glutathione peroxidase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; SEM: standard error mean.

CON: corn-soya based basal diet having CP = 23.30% and ME = 3081 Kcal/kg diet; PL40: CON + 40 g fresh plantain/kg diet, PL80: CON + 80 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL120: CON + 120 g fresh plantain/kg diet.

^abcMean values with dissimilar superscripts differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 4. Effect of different level of fresh plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on carcase characteristics and meat quality of broilers at 35 days.

Parameters	CON	Plantain supplemented groups			SEM	p-Value
		PL40	PL80	PL120		Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Carcase characteristics, %
DP	58.54^b ±1.09	61.33^a±1.09	62.51^a±1.40	63.15^a±0.89	0.60	.001	.140	.726
Breast	15.83^c±0.78	17.67^b±0.73	18.91^ab±0.57	19.11^a±0.66	0.43	.000	.073	.813
Thigh	7.40^b±0.47	8.10^ab±0.34	8.22^ab±0.51	8.40^a±0.54	0.16	.034	.376	.615
Abd. Fat	1.36^a±0.03	1.26^b±0.05	1.16^c±0.02	1.23^b±0.03	0.02	.000	.002	.100
Liver	3.50 ± 0.04	3.49 ± 0.07	3.52 ± 0.07	3.49 ± 0.07	0.02	.907	.727	.587
Heart	0.63 ± 0.02	0.63 ± 0.02	0.64 ± 0.03	0.64 ± 0.04	0.01	.502	.919	.502
Kidney	0.21 ± 0.02	0.21 ± 0.03	0.23 ± 0.02	0.20 ± 0.03	0.01	.958	.404	.366
Gizzard	3.03 ± 0.09	3.00 ± 0.39	3.09 ± 0.07	3.07 ± 0.11	0.05	.687	.979	.704
Meat proximate composition, %
Moisture	73.50 ± 1.00	71.67 ± 0.76	71.66 ± 1.61	73.33 ± 1.25	0.39	.876	.035	.958
Crude protein	21.55 ± 0.51	22.66 ± 0.58	22.49 ± 1.49	22.21 ± 0.49	0.25	.446	.206	.619
Ether extract	1.92^a±0.05	1.83^b±0.03	1.57^c±0.06	1.58^c±0.04	0.06	.000	.115	.008
NFE	73.34 ± 0.44	72.19 ± 0.68	72.70 ± 1.50	73.01 ± 0.66	0.26	.841	.203	.460
Ash	1.17 ± 0.06	1.25 ± 0.09	1.30 ± 0.05	1.25 ± 0.06	0.02	.126	.125	.691
Meat fatty acid profile, %
Saturated FA	31.73^a±0.71	31.24^ab±0.59	30.91^ab±0.63	30.16^a±0.76	0.24	.020	.748	.748
MUFA	49.64 ± 1.33	50.14 ± 1.89	49.72 ± 2.19	49.17 ± 1.81	0.46	.709	.633	.871
PUFA	18.63^c±0.21	18.62^c±0.27	19.37^b±0.33	20.67^a±0.41	0.26	.000	.007	.802
Linoleic acid	12.61^d±0.08	13.43^c±0.16	14.91^b±0.07	15.46^a±0.11	0.34	.000	.060	.000
Linolenic acid	0.27 ± 0.11	0.29 ± 0.02	0.28 ± 0.04	0.31 ± 0.18	0.03	.703	.938	.808

DP: dressing percentage; Abd. Fat: abdominal fat; NFE: nitrogen free extract; FA: fatty acid; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids; SEM: standard error mean.

CON: corn-soya based basal diet having CP = 23.30% and ME = 3081 Kcal/kg diet; PL40: CON + 40 g fresh plantain/kg diet, PL80: CON + 80 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL120: CON + 120 g fresh plantain/kg diet.

^abcMean values with dissimilar superscripts differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 5. Effect of different level of fresh plantain herb (Plantago lanceolata L.) supplementation on meat colour of broilers at 35 days.

Parameters	CON	Plantain supplemented groups			SEM	p-Value
		PL40	PL80	PL120		Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Breast meat colour
L*	49.12^a±2.06	46.39^ab±1.25	45.33^b±1.12	44.71^b±1.89	0.65	.009	.295	.778
a*	1.42^d±0.08	2.00^c±0.04	4.01^b±0.11	4.21^a±0.13	0.37	.000	.010	.000
b*	2.49^b±0.40	2.75^b±0.16	4.29^a±0.02	4.43^a±0.03	0.26	.000	.582	.001
Thigh meat colour
L*	47.46^a±0.49	44.28^b±0.89	44.77^b±1.44	43.74^b±1.84	0.53	.012	.183	.153
a*	2.87^c ±0.19	3.92^b±0.07	4.69^a±0.09	4.79^a±0.17	0.23	.000	.000	.311
b*	3.76 ± 1.25	3.86 ± 0.19	4.40 ± 0.49	4.80 ± 0.35	0.21	.078	.183	.153

L*: lightness; a*: redness; b*: yellowness; SEM: standard error mean.

CON: corn-soya based basal diet having CP = 23.30% and ME = 3081 Kcal/kg diet; PL40: CON + 40 g fresh plantain/kg diet, PL80: CON + 80 g fresh plantain/kg diet; PL120: CON + 120 g fresh plantain/kg diet.

^abcMean values with dissimilar superscripts differ significantly (p < .05).