Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaf Powder as an Alternative to Antibiotic Growth Promoters on Growth Performance, Meat Value, Haemato-Biochemical Indices for Sustainable Sonali Chicken (RIR × Fayoumi) Production

Document Type : Original Paper

Authors

1 Department of Animal Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh

2 Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh

3 Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh

4 Department of Animal Biotechnology, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea

5 College of Life Science, Linyi University, 276000, Shangdong Province, China

10.22069/psj.2026.23873.2362

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of supplementing Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP) on the growth performance, meat quality and health status in Sonali chicken. A 60-day feeding trial was conducted using 144 day-old male Sonali chicks, which were randomly allocated into three dietary treatments with eight replicates per treatment and six birds per replicate. The treatments consisted of: (i) control group fed a basal diet, (ii) antibiotic group fed the basal diet supplemented with chlortetracycline at 100 mg/kg feed, and (iii) MLP group fed the basal diet supplemented with MLP at 500 mg/kg feed. The MLP-supplemented group showed higher (P < 0.05) final body weight (FBW) and average daily weight gain (ADG) in the whole experimental period (1-60 days) with improved feed conversion ratio. Analysis of the meat quality revealed that dietary supplementation with MLP significantly improved the meat quality of Sonali chickens by increasing postmortem muscle pH at 45 min and reducing drip loss at 24 h and 8 days compared with the control diet (P < 0.05). Hemoglobin (12.4 g/dL in MLP vs. 11.9 g/dL in control), red cell distribution width-standard deviation (56.4 fL in MLP vs. 44 fL in control), and total white blood cell count (11,700/μL in MLP vs. 9,300/μL in control) were all significantly higher (P < 0.05) according to hematological parameters, indicating the enhanced immunity of Sonali chickens. MLP supplementation improved serum calcium, albumin, and lipid profiles by lowering total cholesterol and triglycerides and significantly decreased (P < 0.05) serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase levels, indicating improved liver function. These results prove that MLP is a powerful natural feed additive that enhances Sonali chicken's growth, meat quality and health, providing a suitable substitute for antibiotic growth promoters in sustainable poultry production.

Keywords

References

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Poultry Science Journal
Volume 14, Issue 2
November 2026
Pages 159-168

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