GARLIC (ALLIUM SATIVUM) MODULATED SERUM CHOLESTEROL LEVEL, IMPROVED IMMUNE STATUS AND CARCASS YIELD OF BROILERS

Abstract

In present study we examined the potentials of feeding dried garlic powder to broiler
chicks. One hundred and sixty, one-day old broiler chicks were randomly allocated to four replicated
treatments; GE-3, GE-2 and GE-1 that received garlic @ 3, 2 and 1 g/ kg of feed, respectively, whereas
GE-0 served as control. Birds were reared in floor pens (10 birds/ pen) in an open sided in optimum
environmental and mangemental conditions for 42 days. Feed and water were provided ad lib and birds
were vaccinated against Newcastle (ND), Infectious Bronchitis (IB) and Infectious Bursal (IBD)
diseases. On day-42, three birds from each pen were randomly selected for blood collection to
determine serum lipid profile using Blood Biochemical Analyzer, antibody titre using HI and ELISA
kits and were killed to find out carcass yield in terms of dressing percentage. Garlic powder did not
affect feed intake. However, feed efficiency, body weight gain and dressed weight were significantly
improved by birds in groups GE-3 and GE-2. GE-3 had higher antibody titre against ND (4.25±0.28),
IB (5.50±0.64) and IBD (5453±0.45) compared to other groups. There was a significant reduction in
serum cholesterol (120.50±7.23), low-density lipoprotein (83±1.85) and triglycerides (70±1.35) and
increase in high-density lipoprotein (29.12±1.73) in GE-2 compared to other groups. The difference
between GE-2 and GE-3 was, however, non-significant for total cholesterol and HDL. These findings
demonstrated that garlic powder can potentially be used in broiler diets to improve the immune status,
growth performance and to optimize lipid profile.