Dietary supplementation of Sida rhombifolia enhances the plasma antioxidation and modulates gut microbiota in Anyi tile-like grey chickens

Sida rhombifolia (S. rhombifolia) is a widely used herbal plant for humans because of its antioxidant and antibacterial effects, but its potential use as a feed additive for livestock has not been investigated. Twenty 350 days-old Anyi tile-like grey chickens were randomly divided into a control group (fed basal diet) and a treatment group (fed basal diet + 3% of S. rhombifolia), and these chickens were feed for 31 days. Dietary S. rhombifolia remarkably enhanced plasma antioxidants, including the significantly increased total antioxidant capability (p < 0.01), catalase (p = 0.04), and superoxide dismutase (p < 0.01) in the treatment group. Furthermore, dietary S. rhombifolia also modulated chicken cecal microbiota, including an increased microbial diversity (Shannon, p = 0.03; Chao1, p = 0.03) in the treatment group. Regarding taxonomic analysis, 34 microbial taxa showed significant differences between the two groups. Meanwhile, the dominant phylum Actinobacteriota (p = 0.04), and dominant genera Desulfovibrio (p = 0.04) and Olsenella (p = 0.02) were significantly increased after treatment, whereas the pathogenic genus Escherichia-Shigella (p = 0.04) was significantly decreased after feeding S. rhombifolia. The results indicating that S. rhombifolia has potential for use as a natural plant feed additive for chickens.