The Effect of Moringa oleifera Leaf Meal and their Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts on Immunological Parameters, and Liver Enzymes of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf meal and their aqueous and ethanolic extracts on immunological parameters, economic results and liver enzymes of broiler chickens. Two hundred and ten unsexed day-old Ross308 broiler chicks were divided into seven experimental diets . Each treatment had three replicates with 10 birds per replicate. Each replicate was fed with an assigned experimental diet for five weeks. The treatments were as follows:T1 was the control without addition, T2 adding 2 g M. oleifera Leaf Meal (MOLM)/kg of feed, T3 adding 4 g M. oleifera Leaf Meal (MOLM).kg-1 feed, T4 adding 2 ml Moringa Aqueous Leaf Extract (MALE) each 1 litre water, T5 adding 4 ml Moringa Aqueous Leaf Extract (MALE) each 1 litre water, T6 adding 2 ml Moringa Ethanolic Leaf Extract (MELE)each 1 litre water, T7 adding 4 ml (MELE) each 1 litre water. The results showed there was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in the weights of the bursa gland of moringa treatments in a comparison with control group. While the addition of moringa did not have any significant effect on relative weights of spleen and on the ratio of heterophils to lymphocytes (H/L) in the blood of broilers. There was no significant difference in the values of liver enzymes (AST and ALT) among M. oleifera treatments and control.

Keywords

• Moringa oleifera
• Aqueous extract
• Ethanolic extract
• Broiler