Carcass and antioxidative status of the brain and meat of two hybrids of broiler chicken fed Ficus carica leaf powder and vitamin C supplemented diets

Abstract The study examined the effect of dietary supplementation of Ficus carica leaf powder and vitamin C on the antioxidative status of the meat and brain of two hybrids of broiler chicken. Two hundred- and forty-day-old chicks, each of Arbor Acres (AA) and Cobb 500 (C5) hybrids of broiler chicken were randomly assigned to diets. Diet 1 and 2 had no supplement; diets 3 and 4 supplemented with vitamin C (200mg/kg of basal), diet 5 and 6 received 1g Ficus carica Leaf Powder (FCLP)/Kg of basal diet while diets 7 and 8 had 1g FCLP/kg of basal diet + 200mg of vitamin C. The interactive effect of hybrid, vitamin C and FCLP significantly influenced the dressing percentage, gizzard, pancreas, heart and proventriculus. Brain catalase and glutathione were significantly influenced by the hybrid, vitamin C and FCLP inclusion. Dietary supplementation of FCLP and vitamin C significantly lower the lipid peroxidation of the meat. There was significant interactive effect of the factors on lipid peroxidation while meat catalase and glutathione were significantly increased by the inclusion of FCLP. This study revealed that the dietary inclusions of broilers’ diets with 1g FCLP and 200mg vitamin C/kg of feed could influence carcass and organs weights as well as improve meat quality and brain antioxidant status of broiler chicken, with the C5 hybrid showing better antioxidative status.