Effect of Adding Different Levels of Therapeutic Curcuma on Productive Traits in Broiler Chickens

Introduction

Given the significant evolution in the global food consumption pattern, animal protein needs have increased. This pattern has been leading to intensified efforts to develop the poultry industry that adopts scientific methods and advanced technologies since poultry meat is an important source of animal protein. Therefore, numerous researchers in the field of feeding poultry are working hard to find advanced methods to obtain the highest production at the lowest possible costs through the increase in metabolizable energy by the bird ( 1 ). Researchers have thus turned to the introduction of natural plants in the diets of domestic birds, including the (Therapeutic Curcuma). The Curcuma is a plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family and is a tropical plant that contains the compound curcumin, which is one of the most important active compounds in it. However, the plant cultivation areas extend from India to Indonesia, and turmeric is considered one of the perennial plants with red tuberous roots, about 28 cm long ( 2 ). Turmeric is characterized by active substances that have an antioxidant, anti-fungal, and anti-coccidial effect ( 3 ).

Compared to commercially available antibiotics, turmeric is natural, non-toxic, and an ideal food additive commonly used in the normal diet ( 4 , 5 ). Turmeric consists of 69.4% carbohydrates and 6.3% Protein, 5.1% fat, 3.5% minerals, and 13 moisture ( 6 ). Adding turmeric powder effectively enhances the growth of broilers ( 7 ), where the turmeric stimulates the digestive system of bowel activities, including Intestinal Lipase, Maltase, and Sucrase. In addition to stimulating the pancreatic enzymes, Anyloase, Lipase, Chemotrypsine, and Trypsin ( 8 , 9 ). Moreover, using turmeric powder at a concentration of 10 g / kg increased body weight and improved feed conversion ratio with a decrease in the feed consumption for broilers ( 10 ). Therefore, this study aimed to use different levels of therapeutic Curcuma in the diets provided to broilers and its role in production traits.

2. Materials and Methods

The field experiment was conducted in the poultry field at the Department of Animal Production in Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad from 22-11-2020 to 3-1-2021. Three hundred fifteen unsexed Ross-308 chicks one day old, with an average initial weight of 42 g, were used in the experiment, brought from one of the commercial sector hatcheries in Abu Ghraib district. Chicks were raised on a bed of sawdust, they were randomly distributed into seven treatments in pens by three replicates per treatment (15 birds in each replicate), and the provision of water and fodder was free. The chicks were fed on a starter diet from one day to 10 days, containing the metabolizable energy 3005.3 kcal/kg feed and crude protein 23.0. Then, a grower diet from day 11-24 contains the metabolizable energy of 3105.0 kcal/kg feed and crude protein of 21.5, and a finisher diet from day 25-42 contains the metabolizable energy of 3180.3 kcal/kg feed and crude protein of 20.2 as shown in table 1. The experiment lasted for 42 days, and the productive traits were measured for each week of the experiment, which included body weight, weight gain, feed consumption, and feed conversion ratio. The complete randomized design (CRD) was used, and a significant comparison was conducted between the averages using the Duncan Multiple Range test (1995), and the statistical program (SAS 2010) was used for the statistical analysis.

3. Results and Discussion

Table 2 showed the effect of adding different levels of therapeutic Curcuma on the average body weight (g) of broilers during the experiment weeks. No significant differences in body weight were recorded between the experimental treatments during the first, second, third, and fourth weeks. In contrast, the treatment T₄ recorded the highest significance (P<0.05) in body weight during the fifth and sixth weeks of age, this treatment did not differ from all the additional treatments for all levels of Therapeutic Curcuma, but it differed significantly from the control treatment that recorded the lowest body weight at these two weeks. The experiment results indicated no significant differences (P<0.05) in the weight gain trait between the experimental treatments for all weeks, as shown in table 3. When calculating the cumulative weight gain, the fourth treatment recorded the highest weight gain (2597.05 g), which did not differ from treatments T₂, T₃,T₅, T₆, and T₇, while treatment T₁ recorded the lowest weight gain. On the other hand, the amount of feed consumption (Tables 4 and 5) during the first and second weeks experiment did not show significant differences between the different experimental treatments. In contrast, at three weeks, there was a significant increase in the average feed consumption for treatment T₁ compared to the experimental treatments T₂, T₃, T₄, T₅, and T₇. Although a significant increase (P<0.05) was observed in the average feed consumption for treatment T₆ in the fourth week of age, this treatment did not differ significantly from the experimental treatments T₁, T₂, T₄, T₅, and T₇, but it differed from treatment T₃. In the fifth week of age, treatment T₇ recorded the highest significant increase (P<0.05) in the average feed consumption compared to the control treatment, which had the lowest average feed consumption. As for the rest of the experimental treatments, they did not differ significantly from the two treatments, the control treatment and treatment T₇. In the sixth week of age and the cumulative period of 1-6 weeks, there were no significant differences between the experimental treatments in the average feed consumption. Similarly, it was observed from the calculation of feed conversion that there are no significant differences between the experimental treatments in the first week of the birds’ age. In contrast, treatment T₃ recorded a significant improvement in the feed conversion ratio compared to treatments T₂, T₄, T₅, and T₆; it did not differ significantly from the two treatments T₁ and T₇ in the second week of age. Upon reaching the third week of age, which witnessed a significant improvement (P<0.05) in the feed conversion ratio for all the experimental treatments compared to the control treatment. Thus, treatment T₃ returned to a significant improvement (P<0.05) in the feed conversion ratio compared to treatment T₆, which recorded a deterioration in the feed conversion ratio; these two treatments did not differ from the rest of the experimental treatments. The remaining weeks of the experiment, represented by the fifth and sixth weeks and the cumulative period (1-6), did not show any significant differences between the experimental treatments in the feed conversion ratio. Gouda and Bhandary ( 12 ) pointed out turmeric's role in containing the active compounds that include Curcumin, Demethoxy curcumin, and Bisdemethoxy curcumin, as it is non-toxic and a natural antibiotic. Besides, it increases the growth rate and creates a healthy metabolism in poultry, in addition to its role as an antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Scientific references have proven its validity and usefulness as an alternative to antibiotics in poultry fields due to its wide range of biochemical activities and effect on growth performance and weight gain in addition to improving health status, metabolism, immune and antimicrobial action. The positive role of turmeric may be due to its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activity ( 6 ), or it may be due to the prebiotic-like effects of Curcumin, as mentioned by Niamsa and Sittiwet ( 13 ). Else, the improvement in weight and FCR may be due to the enhancement of secretion of the Amylase, Lipase, Trypsin, and Chymotrypsin enzymes ( 14 ). Moreover, Curcumin reduced harmful bacteria communities and inhibited their effect on various pathogenic bacteria ( 13 ). The improvement in growth performance due to turmeric added to broiler diets may be due to the environment and function of the digestive system in chickens ( 15 ). Also, Roughley and Whiting ( 16 ) indicated that the effects shown by turmeric might be due to its containing curcuminoids (5-3% in turmeric powder), bisdemethoxycurcumin, and dimethoxy curcumin, which are the main active compounds in turmeric. These compounds showed a wide range of biological activities, including antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-fungal, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-coccidial, and anti-inflammatory, promoting digestion and absorption and having protective effects against toxins and coccidiosis ( 17 - 19 ). Al-Sultan ( 20 ) showed that turmeric improves liver and bile functions by increasing bile secretion, protecting the stomach from ulcers, and reducing liver toxins. These improvements can enhance digestion, metabolism, and nutrient consumption for growth by stimulating protein synthesis through the enzymatic system.

Authors' Contribution

Study concept and design: S. J. H.

Acquisition of data: N. A. A.

Analysis and interpretation of data: S. J. H.

Drafting of the manuscript: N. A. A.

Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: S. J. H.

Statistical analysis: S. J. H.

Administrative, technical, and material support: N. A. A.

Ethics

The study was approved by the Research Ethics

Committee of the University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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