The Effects of Dietary Inclusion of Miana Plant Flour (Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R. Br. on Serum Lipid Profile and Organ Weights of Broiler Chickens

Miana plant (Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R. Br. contains active compounds (such as steroids, flavonoids, saponins, and tannins) which can have several health benefits, including lowering cholesterol LDL and triglyceride as well as increasing feed consumption, body weight, and carcass weight of broilers. Therefore, the current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of Miana plant flour (Plectranthus scutellarioides (L.) R. Br. in the diet on blood serum lipid profiles and physiological organs of broilers. The experiment was performed on 100 day-old broiler chickens from strain Arbor Acres CP-707. The experiment was designed in a completely randomized design with five different levels of Miana plant flour (0%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, and 12.5%) in broiler's diets as treatment, and each treatment was repeated four times. The diet was arranged iso-protein (21%) and iso-energy (2900 kcal/kg). The serum lipid profile measurement included the analysis of total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Physiological organ analysis entailed the percentage of liver weight, pancreas weight, gizzard weight, small intestine weight, and length of parts of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) of broilers. The results showed that the inclusion of Miana plant flour in the broiler's diet could significantly affect total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, and LDL in the serum of broiler chickens, and it affected duodenum length significantly. Furthermore, the inclusion of Miana plant flour in the broiler's diet had an insignificant effect on the percentage of liver weight, pancreas weight, gizzard weight, small intestine weight, and length of each part of the small intestine (jejunum and ileum) on broilers. In conclusion, the inclusion of Miana plant flour as much as 12.5% in broiler's diets reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL, and increased the HDL and duodenum length without adverse effects on the other physiological organs of broiler chickens.