ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEED TECHNOLOGY

Varzaru, I., Untea, A.E., Saracila, M., Ropota, M. and Olteanu, M. 2020. Comparative analysis of bioactive compounds and nutritive quality of select plants as antioxidant phytoadditives for poultry feed. Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, 20: 409–418.

This study was designed to investigate the content of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties from three local plants: dandelion, burdock and lady's bedstraw and the possibility of using them as feed additives in poultry nutrition. The investigated bioactive compounds in the selected plants included lutein and zeaxanthin, P-carotene, vitamin E and total polyphenols. The antioxidant capacity of the plants was assessed by DPPH (2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS [2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)] radical-scavenging activity. Proximate analysis and fatty acids composition was also studied. Dandelion registered the highest content of lutein and zeaxanthin (185.78 |g/g), P-carotene (57.57 |g/g) and vitamin E (63.77 |g/g) from among the analysed plants. The phenolic compounds contributed significantly to the antioxidant capacity, which was reflected in the ABTS radical-scavenging activity. Lady's bedstraw showed the highest ABTS radical-scavenging activity (39.3 mM eq trolox), followed by dandelion (33.33 mM eq trolox) and burdock (23.16 mM eq trolox). The DPPH radical-scavenging activity (mM eq trolox) were in the same range of values for all studied plants, proving a comparable proton-donating ability of plant extracts. These results showed that the plant extracts had an increased antioxidant capacity most likely because of the synergistic effects of antioxidant components. The assessment of nutritional quality proved the potential use of studied plants in animal nutrition.