Application of naringenin as a natural feed additive for improving quail performance and health

The current feeding study was designed to investigate the influence of naringenin dietary supplementation on growth performance, carcass traits, blood biochemistry, immunity, antioxidant responses, and the cecal microbiota of growing Japanese quails. Two hundred 1-wk-old Japanese quails with an average body weight of 28.02 ± 0.10 g were randomly clustered into 5 groups with 5 replicates each (n = 40 chicks/treatments & 8 chicks/replicate). The first group was received the basal diet (BD) without naringenin supplementation and considered the control group. Whereas, the naringenin-treated groups were fed on BD supplemented with naringenin at 0.50, 1.00, 1.50, and 2.00 g/kg diet. Regarding the antimicrobial activity of naringenin, the results displayed growth inhibition zones increased with increasing levels of naringenin. The main findings included significant linear and quadratic increases in quail's body weight and body gain with marked improvement of FCR (P < 0.05) without obvious alterations in carcass traits (P > 0.05). Moreover, dietary treatment with naringenin distinctly improved quail's hematology and biochemistry with prominent hypolipidemic effects assured by the significant lowering of cholesterol, TG, LDL, and VLDL. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH), immunoglobulins (IgA, IgM, and IgG), complement 3, and lysozyme were increased with naringenin supplementation. The presence of naringenin in quail's diet significantly reduced the presence of different microbial populations in the cecum of growing quails. Net profit and economic efficiency were improved with naringenin supplementation when compared to control. Therefore, naringenin could be effectively included in quail's nutrition as a promising feed additive to improve quail's health and overall performance.