Effect of different levels of St.John’s Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) extract and neomycin antibiotic on performance, some carcass characteristics and breast and thigh meat quality of broiler chickens

Document Type : Original Article

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This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of different levels of St.John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum, HP) extract and neomycin antibiotic on performance, some carcass characteristics and breast and thigh meat quality of broiler chickens. The experiment was performed on 180 one day old male broiler chicks (Ross 308 strain) based a completely randomized design with 5 treatments consisting of 3 replicate and 12 chicks per each replicate. The treatments include a control treatment (basal diet), three different levels of HP extract (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 gr HP/kg diet) and 0.2 gram per kilogram antibiotic (neomycin). Texture profile analyzer and comparison tests were conducted using Brookfield ct3 texture analyzer with TA25 cylinder probe. The antibiotic fed birds had higher feed intake as compared to plant extract fed birds during the whole experimental period (P<0.05). Dietary supplementation of HP significantly increased the breast and thigh protein (P<0.05). Consumption of 0.50 gr HP/kg caused the lowest abdominal fat as compared to the antibiotic and control (P<0.05). The highest springiness and lowest hardness and chewiness index of thigh meat was observed for 0.50 gr HP fed birds (P<0.05). The highest hardness of thigh and breast meat was observed for antibiotic fed birds (P <0.05). The results of this study showed that use of HP extract could promote the meat quality and hence can be considered as an alternative to antibiotic in broiler diets for meat quality improvement. 
 

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