Antioxidant and antinutritional potentials of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) leaf meal on the growth performance, economics of production, blood indices, carcass characteristics and histopathology of broiler chickens.

Abstract

A feed trial on seven hundred-and twenty-day old Cobb-500 strain broilers finisher chickens on substituting sweet potato leaf meal (SPLM) in broiler chicken diets was conducted. In a completely randomized design, the birds were allocated randomly to five (5) diets with 144 birds per treatment and divided into four replicates of thirty-six birds each. Treatment 1 was designated as the control (0% SPLM) while 3.75% SPLM, 7.5% SPLM, 11.25% SPLM and 15% SPLM served as T2 - T5 respectively. Data were collected on blood indices, carcass characteristics and histopathology which were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test. The proximate analysis and phytochemicals in the leaf revealed significant amounts of constituents analysed. The bird's performance, cost of production, blood indices, carcass, and organs characteristics on experimental diets recorded significant (p < 0.05) effects on the weight gain, FCR, cost of diets, cost of body weight gain, WBC, MCH, MCV, glucose and total cholesterol, live weight, plucked weight, eviscerated carcass weight and dressed carcass weight values. Treatment 3 had superior carcass values in comparison to the other treatments. The histopathology results recorded significant (p < 0.05) effects at 15%SPLM on the heart and liver respectively but no tissue damage was recorded. The superoxide dismutase enzyme exhibited the highest level compared to the other treatments. However, the level of the glutathione peroxidase enzyme significantly decreased in comparison to the other SPLM levels. Also, birds on SPLM supplements showed (p < 0.05) compared to the control. Conclusively, T3 revealed better weight gain, FCR and carcass quality while at higher inclusion levels up to 15% SPLM diet showed lowers values of production cost, serum cholesterol concentration, improves the serum superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities of the chickens.