EVALUATING PHYTOGENIC COMPOSITION OF ORANGE PEELS, LEMON PEEL, LEMON GRASS, CURRY LEAVES, THEIR COMBINATIONS AND RESULTANT EFFECT ON BROILER CHICKEN PERFORMANCE

Abstract

Phytogenics are becoming increasingly acceptable as alternative to in-feed growth promoters in farm animals. Some of the phytogenics identified included orange peel (OP), lemon peel (LP), lemon grass (LG) and curry leaf (CL). Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the phytochemical composition of the test ingredients and the impact of dietary additives of selected phytogenics in different combination and equal quantity to determine their resultant synergistic effects on broiler chickens performance. A total of 320 day-old (Ross 308) broiler chickens were allotted to 8 dietary treatments with four (4) replicates of ten (10) birds each. Dietary treatments included basal diet without additive (negative control; T1), with antibiotics (positive control; T2), 50% LP+ 50% OP (T3), 50% LP+50% LG (T4), 50% LP+50% CL (T5), 50% OP+50% LG (T6), 50% OP+50% CL (T7), and 50% LG+50% CL (T8). The experiment lasted for 42 days. Analytical screening of test ingredients and growth performance were evaluated. Data obtained were subjected to one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results obtained revealed that the test ingredients contain substantial quantities of phytochemicals including flavonoid, terpernoid, steroid and alkaloid. Feed conversion ratio was significantly reduced (p<0.05) in birds fed LP + CL supplemented diet at 3 weeks which resulted in the increased (p<0.05) final weight gain of birds in this treatment at 6 week. In conclusion, combinations of selected phytogeniics improved their phytochemical content such as tannin in LP +
LG and improved final weight gain (LP + CL) better than the control groups.