Impact of dietary supplementation of Carica papaya essential oil on the blood chemistry of broiler chickens

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of dietary supplementation of Carica papaya essential oil on the haematological and serum biochemical indices of broiler chickens. 400 one-day old Ross 307 chicks of mixed sex were used in an 8 weeks trial. The birds were distributed over 4 groups consisting of 100 birds (5 replicates consisting of 20 birds each) in a completely randomized design. Treatment 1 (T1) basal diet with no Carica papaya essential oil, T2, T3 and T4 were fed basal diet with 100 mg, 200 mg and 300 mg/kg respectively. Feed and clean water was supplied ad libitum. The result revealed that pack cell volume, red blood cell, haemoglobin, white blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils and neutrophils values in the starter and finisher phase were not significantly (P˃0.05) influenced by the treatments. Total protein, albumin, globulin, creatinine, aspartate transaminase and alanine phosphatase values were not significantly (P˃0.05) influenced in Carica papaya essential oil except for cholesterol values which was higher (P˂0.05) in T1 than in other treatments in both the starter and finisher phase. However, all values are within the optimum ranges for healthy birds suggesting the absence of inflammation, infection or metabolic disorder. It was concluded that Carica papaya essential oil is loaded with several bioactive compounds with therapeutic value and it can be included up to 300 mg/kg without causing any deleterious effect on the blood profile as well as general performance of birds.