Effects Of Artemisia Annua L Polysaccharide On Growth Performance,Intestinal Indexes And Meat Quality Of Broilers

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different doses of Artemisia annua L.polysaccharide(AAP)in diets on growth performance,intestinal indexes,antioxidant indices and meat quality of breast and leg muscle.Two hundred and forty one-day-old AA broilers with similar body weight(44.19±0.25)g were randomly divided into basal diet group(control)and basal diet groups supplemented with 250,500,750 and 1 000 mg/kg AAP,respectively.There were 6 replicate cages per group,8 broilers per cage,half male and half female.The feeding period was 42 days.1.Recorded the body weight and feed intake of broilers in each trial period and calculated body weight gain(BWG),total feed intake(FI)and feed conversion efficiency(FE);Feces of broilers from days 19 to 21 and 40 to 42 were collected to determine the apparent metabolic rate of nutrients.The results showed that: With the increase of AAP dosage,the body weight gain(BWG)in the early stage of the experiment and the final body weight(FBW)of broilers on d 21 all showed a significant linear increase(P=0.047;P=0.048),the apparent metabolic rate of crude fat and crude protein on d 21 of the experiment showed a very significant and a significant quadratic increase respectively(P=0.007;P=0.017),the apparent metabolic rate of crude fat and dry matter on d 42 of the experiment all showed a very significant quadratic increase(P=0.009;P=0.004).2.Duodenum,jejunum,ileum and its chyme of broilers were collected on day 21 and42 of the experiment.Measured the activities of digestive enzymes and observed the morphology of small intestinal mucosa.The results showed that: With the increase of AAP dosage,during the experiment,amylase activity in duodenum and ileum,lipase activity and trypsin activity in jejunal and ileum and chymotrypsin activity in duodenum,jejunal and ileum of broilers all showed a significant linear and quadratic increase(P<0.05).The crypt depth of duodenum,jejunal and ileum showed a very significant quadratic decrease(P<0.01),and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth of its showed a significant increase during the experiment(P=0.019;P=0.02;P=0.027).On d 42 of the experiment,the villus height of duodenum showed a significant quadratic increase(P=0.032).3.Cecal digesta and feces of broilers on day 21 and 42 of the experiment were collected to determine the amount of intestinal flora and emission of harmfui gases.The results showed that: With the increase of AAP dosage,the number of Escherichia coli in cecal chyme in the whole experiment,the emission of ammonia in feces at h 48 in the early stage of the experiment and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in feces at h 72 in the later stage of the experiment of broilers showed a significant and a very significant linear decrease respectively(P=0.017;P=0.022;P<0.01;P=0.044),the number of Lactic acid bacteria in the early stage of the experiment showed a significant quadratic increase(P=0.045).4.The breast and leg muscles of broilers on day 42 of the experiment were collected to determine the meat quality and antioxidant indexes.The results showed that: With the increase of AAP dosage,on d 42 of the experiment,the brightness value(L*)and shear force of breast and leg muscle of broilers all showed a significant linear decrease(P=0.014;P=0.016;P=0.014;P=0.017),the p H of breast muscle at min 45 after slaughter showed a significant quadratic increase(P=0.021),the redness value of leg muscle showed a very significant linear and quadratic increase(P<0.01),the drip loss of breast and leg muscle at h 48 after slaughter all showed a very significant linear and quadratic decrease(P<0.01).The activity of GSH-Px in breast and leg muscle of broilers all showed a significant linear increase(P=0.016;P=0.014),while the content of MDA in leg muscle showed a significant linear decrease(P=0.026).In conclusion,dietary AAP supplementation could improve the body weight gain of broilers,increase the activity of intestinal digestive enzymes,improve the morphology of intestinal mucosa,regulate intestinal flora and improve the antioxidant capacity of muscles to improve the digestion and absorption of nutrients in animals,thereby improve their growth performance and meat quality,and reduce the emission of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide in feces.