The effects of artichoke aqueous extract on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, and blood metabolites in broiler chickens

An experiment was conducted to study the efficacy of artichoke aqueous extract (AAE) on the performance, carcass characteristics, clinical blood chemistry values, and the gut morphology of female broiler chickens poisoned with carbon tetra chloride (CCl۴). Broiler chicks were categorized into four experimental groups each of which contained ۱۰ chicks; control group, artichoke group (۰.۵g/kg/bwt of artichoke aqueous extract), CCl۴ group (۱ml/kg/bwt of CCl۴), and artichoke+ CCl۴ group (۰.۵g/kg/bwt of artichoke extract plus ۱ml/kg/bwt of CCl۴). Blood samples were analyzed for the clinical blood chemistry values, cholesterol, triglyceride, albumin, total protein, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), and alkaline phosphates (ALP). Intestinal samples were processed for histological assessment. Results showed that chicks fed with artichoke supplemented diet had an improvement in the FCR during the ۲۱-۳۵ days of the experiment period compared with other groups. The significant increase of the albumin level was observed in artichoke group compared with CCl۴ group. There was a significant difference in the total protein level in the artichoke group in comparison with CCl۴ group and artichoke + CCl۴ group. Concentration of AST enzyme was determined significantly lower in the artichoke group compared with other groups. The artichoke group showed a significant increase in the villus length compared with the control and CCl۴ groups. However, the artichoke + CCl۴ group did not show a significant change (P< ۰.۰۵) in the villus length compared with the control group. In conclusion, our study showed that the use of artichoke extract improves morphological status in the small intestine in broiler chickens and subsequently improves the digestibility. In conclusion, our study provides evidence that the use of artichoke extract improves morphological status in small intestine in broiler chickens and subsequently improves the digestibility

Keywords:

Artichoke , CCl۴ , Broiler chickens , Intestinal Morphology