Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Tulsi (O. Sanctum) Leaf Powder on the Growth Performance and Serum Lipid Profile in Broilers

The effect of dietary supplementation of Tulsi (O. sanctum) leaf powder (TLP) on the growth performance and serum lipid profile was studied in broilers. One hundred fifty day old broiler chicks were randomly distributed into three experimental groups containing 50 birds each with five replicates. T1 (control) received the standard broiler diet, T2 and T3 groups were fed on standard broiler diet supplemented with TLP at the rate 0.5% and 1.0% of the diet. It was observed that live body weight and weekly weight gain increased significantly (P<0.01) with the supplementation of TLP. The FCR improved significantly in 1.0% TLP supplemented group with no significant difference in feed intake of the birds. The total serum cholesterol, serum LDL-cholesterol and serum triglycerides decreased significantly (P<0.01) by 8.1, 34.16 and 10.04% respectively in TLP supplemented group @ 1% of the diet. There was significant increase (30.42%) in serum HDL-cholesterol in the TLP supplemented groups.