Effect of feeding Moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaves on immunity, carcass traits and keeping quality of meat of broiler chickens

An experiment of six weeks duration was conducted to determine the effect of inclusion of different levels of Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MOLP), as alternate to antibiotic growth promoter, on immunity, carcass traits and keeping quality of meat of broiler chickens. Four hundred twenty (420) day-old broiler chicks were randomly allotted to 6 dietary treatments divided into 7 replicated groups of 10 birds in each. All the birds were fed corn-soya based basal diet incorporated with 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% MOLP in T, T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively, while in T6 basal diet was superimposed with bacitracin methyl disalicylate (BMD) at 0.02% level. No significant difference was observed in carcass and organ weights of the birds though lymphoid organs weight (% of body weight) increased numerically. All MOLP treated groups showed better (P<0.05) CMI response. Humoral responses increased (P<0.01) in all the MOLP treated groups in comparison to control and antibiotic fed groups. There was no significant difference on organoleptic character between control, MOLP incorporated and antibiotic groups but anti-oxidative quality of meat, assessed through ABTS and DPPH improved significantly in MOLP included diets.