Effect of dried peppermint (Mentha cordifolia) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass traits, antioxidant properties, and ammonia production in broilers

• DOI: 10.3382/japr.2013-00813
• Publication Date: 2013-11-25T17:21:20Z
• Authors: S. Khempaka; U. Pudpila; W. Molee
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 0402 animal and dairy science; 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences

SUMMARY The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of dried peppermint (DPM; Mentha cordifolia) supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass traits, antioxidant activity, and ammonia production in broilers. The study was divided into 2 experiments. In experiment 1, a total of forty-five 21-d-old male broilers were placed in individual cages and assigned to 5 dietary treatments with 9 replicates in a completely randomized design. The 5 dietary treatments consisted of a control and 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% DPM, respectively. The addition of DPM in diets had no significant effects on DM, organic matter, CF, and nitrogen retention; however, there was a beneficial effect on excreta ammonia reduction (P ≤ 0.05). In experiment 2, a total of 480 one-day-old male broilers were randomly assigned to 6 dietary treatments with 4 replicates of 20 chicks each using the completely randomized experimental design. The experimental diets consisted of 6 treatments: control, control with 5 ppm of chlortetracycline, and 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0% DPM. The supplementation of DPM had no significant effects on either the growth performance or carcass traits of broilers. However, all levels of DPM supplementation resulted in an increased production index and decreased abdominal fat. In addition, DPM also showed beneficial effects on antioxidant properties by reduced 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances compared with the control. In conclusion, DPM supplementation had no significant effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, or carcass traits. However, it had beneficial effects on antioxidant activity, abdominal fat deposition, and ammonia production in broilers.