Impact of dietary supplementation with cinnamon bark powder on broiler growth and carcass indices, small intestinal measurements, physico-chemical properties of meat and economics of production

Figures & data

Figure 1. European production efficiency factors (EPEF) for treatments containing 0, 2, 4, or 6 g cinnamon bark powder per kg of diet (P = 0.078; cubic 0.02; SEM ± 11.16). EPEF = (viability% × live weight (kg))/(weighted age (d) * feed conversion ratio) × 100.

Figure 2. Body weight at 34 days (kg, SEM 0.303; p-value 0.054; cubic 0.0226) and feed conversion ratio (FCR: kg feed/kg gain; SEM 0.025; p-value 0.338).

Table 1. Carcass composition of broiler chickens at 34 days of age fed diets containing varying amounts of cinnamon bark during the experimental period

Treatment^1	Cinnamon levels (g/kg)^1				SEM^2		Contrast
Body composition	0	2	4	6		p-value	Linear	Quadratic
Live body weight (g)	1658^ϒ	1816	1777	1752	61.5	0.42	0.35	0.21
Eviscerated carcass (g)	1103	1212	1178	1151	41.8	0.64	0.32	0.50
Carcass yield (%)	66.49	66.66	66.29	65.69	2.10	0.53	0.34	0.35
(g/kg Live body weight)
Abdominal fat	7.87	7.02	8.10	6.29	0.88	0.47	0.37	0.59
Neck	25.9	23.4	24.0	25.2	1.2	0.49	0.79	0.15
Edible offal^3	43.7	47.7	51.0	45.7	2.1	0.11	0.31	0.04
Eviscerated carcass	664.3	633.1	663.2	656.0	12.0	0.34	0.90	0.30
(g/kg Eviscerated carcass)
Leg	309	302	332	307	9.48	0.15	0.56	0.36
Breast	390	411	379	406	13.04	0.33	0.78	0.80
Back & wing	250	240	241	239	18.99	0.98	0.72	0.85

¹Basal diet with Cinnamon at levels 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/kg. ²SEM, standard error of mean. ^ϒMean of five bird per treatment. ³Edible offal= Liver weight + heart weight + gizzard weight.

Table 2. Measurements of the small intestine (SI) of broiler chickens at 34 days of age fed diets containing different amounts of cinnamon bark powder

Treatment^1	Cinnamon levels (g/kg)				SEM^2	Contrast
Small intestine (SI) measurements	0	2	4	6		p- value	Linear	Quadratic
Duodenum length (L, cm)	27.0	28.8	28.3	27.3	1.002	0.574	0.951	0.187
Duodenum absolute weight (W, g)	7.18^b	10.3^a	11.7^a	8.0^b	0.614	0.0003	0.186	<0.001
Duodenum relative weight (% BW)	0.42^b	0.61^a	0.69^a	0.47^b	0.036	0.0002	0.187	<0.001
Duodenum thickness (W/L, g/cm)	0.27^c	0.36^ab	0.41^a	0.29^bc	0.02	0.001	0.164	<0.001
Jejunum length (L, cm)	69.5	68.5	75.3	72.8	2.333	0.196	0.133	0.752
Jejunum absolute weight(W, g)	17.0	18.8	21.7	17.4	1.322	0.091	0.496	0.036
Jejunum relative weight (%BW)	1.00	1.11	1.28	1.03	0.078	0.095	0.499	0.038
Jejunum thickness (W/L, g/cm)	0.24	0.27	0.29	0.24	0.014	0.062	1.00	0.012
Ileum length (L, cm)	70.5	71.3	77.5	73.5	2.554	0.249	0.201	0.365
Ileum absolute weight (W, g)	13.9^b	18.1^ab	20.2^a	15.8^ab	1.342	0.025	0.222	0.006
Ileum relative weight (%BW)	0.82^b	1.07^ab	1.19^a	0.93^b	0.08	0.025	0.215	0.006
Ileum thickness (W/L, g/cm)	0.20^b	0.25^a	0.26^a	0.22^ab	0.013	0.012	0.282	0.002
SI length (L, cm)	167	169	181	174	4.804	0.202	0.156	0.363
SI absolute weight (W, g)	38.1^b	47.2^ab	53.6^a	41.2^b	2.996	0.011	0.264	0.002
SI relative weight (IRW; % BW)	2.25^b	2.79^ab	3.16^a	2.43^b	0.177	0.011	0.268	0.003
SI thickness (W/L, g/cm)	0.23^c	0.28^ab	0.30^a	0.24^bc	0.012	0.002	0.369	0.0001

¹The treatments were basal diets containing cinnamon bark at levels of 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/kg. ²SEM, standard error of the mean. ^ϒMean of five replicates per treatment. ^abc Mean values in the same row with different superscript letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).

Table 3. Effect of feeding cinnamon bark as a natural preservative on initial and ultimate pH and color quality 1 h post mortem of broiler chickens at 34 days of age

Treatment^1	Cinnamon levels (g/kg)				SEM^2		Contrast
Parameter	0	2	4	6		p-value	Linear	Quadratic
pH1 h	6.08^cϒ	6.22^bc	6.27^b	6.43^a	0.046	<0.001	0.046	<0.001
pH24 h	5.78^b	5.90^a	5.78^b	5.80^b	0.013	<0.001	0.404	0.001
pH decline	0.31^b	0.31^b	0.49^a	0.63^a	0.044	<0.001	0.051	<0.001
L* (Lightness)	42.12	42.52	44.36	44.46	0.707	0.064	0.01	0.84
a* (Redness)	6.59	6.20	5.90	5.39	0.584	0.539	0.16	0.92
b* (Yellowness)	7.70^ab	8.10^a	8.16^a	7.11^b	0.254	0.036	0.16	0.01
Total color change	52.71	52.27	50.41	50.17	0.732	0.057	0.01	0.89
Saturation index	10.28	10.2	10.08	8.92	0.469	0.179	0.06	0.27
Hue angle (◦)	50.86	52.68	54.27	52.94	2.445	0.804	0.48	0.53
Browning index	31.50	31.41	29.68	25.95	1.705	0.114	0.03	0.30

¹Basal diets containing cinnamon bark at levels of 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/kg. ²SEM, standard error of mean; ^ϒmean of five replicates per treatment. ^abc Means in the same row with different superscript letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05).

Table 4. Effect of different amounts of cinnamon bark powder on the cost and profitability of broilers

Treatment^1	Cinnamon levels^1 (g/kg)				Standard Error		Contrast
Parameter	0	2	4	6		p-value	Linear	Quadratic	Cubic
Feed intake kg at 34 d	2.516^ϒ	2.532	2.475	2.45	0.012	0.474	0.17	0.62	0.56
Cost kg − 1diet*	0.423^d	0.430^c	0.438^b	0.445^a	0	<0.01	<0.01	0	<0.01
Total feed cost/bird, $	1.06	1.09	1.08	1.09	0.017	0.647	0.33	0.54	0.57
Gain, kg (1–34 days)	1.735	1.879	1.821	1.814	1.76	0.057	0.23	0.3	0.02
Feed cost/kg weight gain, $ (ECR)	0.61	0.6	0.64	0.64	0.011	0.119	0.06	0.66	0.15
Total costs (TC), $	2.02	2.05	2.04	2.05	0.018	0.647	0.33	0.54	0.57
Total returns (TR), $ (Total meat price)	2.82	2.94	2.77	2.79	0.048	0.056	0.24	0.29	0.02
Net revenue/kg gain, $	0.79^ab	0.90^a	0.72^b	0.74^b	0.043	0.033	0.09	0.36	0.02
Benefit—cost ratio (BCR)	1.39^ab	1.44^a	1.35^b	1.36^b	0.021	0.031	0.05	0.37	0.03
Profitability index (PI), $	0.281	0.302	0.26	0.263	0.012	0.054	0.07	0.36	0.06
Rate returns investment (RRI, %)	39.2^ab	43.7^a	35.4^b	36.0^b	2.07	0.028	0.06	0.36	0.02
Economic efficiency (EE %)	74.7^ab	82.4^a	66.9^b	67.6^b	3.96	0.031	0.05	0.38	0.03
Relative economic efficiency (REE)	100.0^ab	110.3^a	89.6^b	90.6^b	4.86	0.016	0.03	0.35	0.02
Profitability ratio/kg meat, (RPR)	1.000^ab	1.103^a	0.896^b	0.906^b	0.49	0.016	0.03	0.35	0.02

*Cost 1 kg diet (including cost of g cinnamon/kg diet) “1 kg cinnamon price = 3.71$) based on according to the price at the time of experiment (local price for one kg of basic diet and cinnamon), fixed cost of all groups = 0.96$ and selling cost of kg-1 meat = 1.58$. ^abc Mean values in the row with different superscript letters indicate significant differences (P < 0.05). ¹ Basal diets containing cinnamon bark at levels of 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/kg. ²SEM standard error of the mean; ^ϒn = five replicates cages per treatment. *Assuming the relative economic efficiency and profitability ratio per kg meat of control diet is equal to 100 and 1, respectively.

Data availability statement

The results and analyses of this study are freely available upon request.