INFLUENCE OF PAPAYA LEAVES AND THEIR EXTRACT SUPPLEMENTATION ON GROWING RABBIT PERFORMANCE, PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS, IMMUNE RESPONSES AND OXIDATIVE ENZYME STATUS.

The present study aimed to determine the effects of using different levels of papaya leaves (PL) and papaya leaves extract (PLE) on productive performance, some blood constituents, oxidative enzyme status, carcass traits, immune response, digestibility coefficients and economic efficiency of weaned New Zealand White rabbits (NZW). Eighty four weaned New Zealand White rabbits (NZW) aged 35 days and weighed 564g ± 3.40 were distributed randomly into seven groups (12 each). The experimental diets contained different levels of papaya leaves and papaya leaves extract (0.0 controls (C), 1, 2 and 3% papaya leaves or papaya leaves extract, respectively. The experiment was lasted for 8 weeks. The obtained results indicated that: The final live body weight, total weight gain and performance index were significantly (P<0.05) improved in the treated groups. Digestibility coefficient and nutritive values were significantly improved for rabbits fed diet contained PL and PLE compared to those fed the control diet. There were significant increases detected for plasma total protein, albumin and globulin while blood plasma cholesterol, LDL and total lipids were significantly decreased by increasing PL and PLE inclusion level compared to control groups. Liver function as AST and ALT activity were not affected by dietary supplementation. Moreover the concentrations of IgG and IgM of rabbits were higher for rabbit supplemented with PL and PLE than the control group. GPx, SOD and CAT were significantly improved by dietary PL and PLE. The best economic efficiency had been recorded with rabbits fed 3% PLE inclusion followed by rabbits received 2% and 1% treatment of PLE, respectively. It is concluded that supplemental papaya leaves extract at the rate of 3 % of the diet improved feed conversion ratio, nutrients digestibility, immunity, and economic efficiency of the NZW rabbits.