Effect of dietary supplementation of marigold pigment on immunity, skin and meat color, and growth performance of broiler chickens

Marigold flower extract, a natural pigment, was used to determine its effect on carcass and skin pigmentation, immunity and growth performance of broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty 1-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups with six replicates in a randomized block design. Birds were fed basal diet for 42 d with or without supplementation of marigold flower extract at various concentrations, i.e., 0 (MG0, control), 100 (MG100), 150 (MG150) and 200 (MG200) mg/kg of feed, respectively. Feed intake and live body weight were weekly recorded. Carcass and shank color, and antibody titers against Newcastle and Influenza viruses were measured. Results showed that marigold flower extract significantly (p<0.05) improved live body weight and relative thymus weight. However, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and spleen and bursa weights were not significantly affected. Yellowness (b*) of breast and thigh muscles increased by the dietary supplementation of marigold flower extract compared with the control diet. However, lightness (L*), redness (a*) and redness to yellowness ratio (a/b) were not influenced by the treatments. Moreover, Roche color fan scores of the shank skin were increased at market age (d 42). The results revealed that marigold extract enhanced antibody titers against Newcastle and influenza viruses. It was possible to conclude that the dietary supplementation with marigold flower extract at the rate of 200 mg/kg of feed enhanced carcass and shank color, antibody titers against ND and AI, and growth performance of broiler chickens.(AU)

Effect of dietary supplementation of marigold pigment on immunity, skin and meat color, and growth performance of broiler chickens

Marigold flower extract, a natural pigment, was used to determine its effect on carcass and skin pigmentation, immunity and growth performance of broiler chickens. Two hundred and forty 1-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were randomly distributed into four treatment groups with six replicates in a randomized block design. Birds were fed basal diet for 42 d with or without supplementation of marigold flower extract at various concentrations, i.e., 0 (MG0, control), 100 (MG100), 150 (MG150) and 200 (MG200) mg/kg of feed, respectively. Feed intake and live body weight were weekly recorded. Carcass and shank color, and antibody titers against Newcastle and Influenza viruses were measured. Results showed that marigold flower extract significantly (p 0.05) improved live body weight and relative thymus weight. However, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and spleen and bursa weights were not significantly affected. Yellowness (b*) of breast and thigh muscles increased by the dietary supplementation of marigold flower extract compared with the control diet. However, lightness (L*), redness (a*) and redness to yellowness ratio (a/b) were not influenced by the treatments. Moreover, Roche color fan scores of the shank skin were increased at market age (d 42). The results revealed that marigold extract enhanced antibody titers against Newcastle and influenza viruses. It was possible to conclude that the dietary supplementation with marigold flower extract at the rate of 200 mg/kg of feed enhanced carcass and shank color, antibody titers against ND and AI, and growth performance of broiler chickens.

Advances in pharmacological studies of silymarin.

Silymarin is the flavonoids extracted from the seeds of Silybum marianum (L) Gearth as a mixture of three structural isomers: silybin, silydianin and silychristin, the former being the most active component. Silymarin protects liver cell membrane against hepatotoxic agents and improves liver function in experimental animals and humans. It is generally accepted that silymarin exerts a membrane-stabilizing action preventing or inhibiting membrane peroxidation. The experiments with soybean lipoxygenase showed that the three components of silymarin brought about a concentration-dependent non-competitive inhibition of the lipoxygenase. The experiments also showed an analogous interaction with animal lipoxygenase, thus showing that an inhibition of the peroxidation of the fatty acid in vivo was self-evident. Silybin almost completely suppressed the formation of PG at the highest concentration (0.3 mM) and proved to be an inhibitor of PG synthesis in vitro. In our experiments, silybin at lower dose (65 mg/kg) decreased liver lipoperoxide content and microsomal lipoperoxidation to 84.6% and 68.55% of those of the scalded control rats respectively, and prevented the decrease of liver microsomal cytochrome p-450 content and p-nitroanisole-O-demethylase activity 24 h post-scalding. Effects of silymarin on cardiovascular system have been studied in this university since 1980. P. O silymarin 800 mg/kg/d or silybin 600 mg/kg/d reduced plasma total cholesterol, LDL-C and VLDL-C. They however, enhanced HDL-C in hyperlipemic rats. Further studies showed that silymarin enhanced HDL-C but didn't affect HDL-C, a property of this component which is beneficial to treatment of atherosclerosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)