Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Plum or Omija on Growth Performance, Blood Biochemical Profiles and Antioxidant Defense System in Broiler Chickens

To investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of freeze-dried plum (Prunus mume Siebold and Zucc., PMS) or omija meal (Schizandra chinensis Baill.; SCB) on growth performance, organ weights, blood biochemical profiles and antioxidant defense system, a total of 96, 3-day-old male broiler chickens were assigned to three dietary groups: (1) control diet, (2) control diet supplemented with PMS at 0.2%, (3) control diet supplemented with SCB at 0.2%. In vitro antioxidant activity, plum and omija extracts showed a significantly higher radical scavenging activity (RSA). In particular, omija extract showed much higher RSA than plum extract. Dietary addition of plum or omija did not affect body weight, feed intake, feed conversion and the relative weight of digestive organ in birds. Plasma triglyceride significantly (P<0.05) increased in birds fed the diet supplemented with omija compared with those fed control diet without affecting the other blood biochemical components. Furthermore, reduced form of glutathione (GSH) in the liver or muscle significantly (P<0.05) increased in birds fed the diet fortified with plum and omija. However, the specific activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and MDA (malondealdehyde) in the intestine, liver and muscle were not altered by dietary antioxidant sources. In conclusion, dietary plum and omija resulted in a positive effect on some antioxidant indicators such as increased in vitro RAS in extracts and in vivo GSH level in the liver and muscle without affecting growth performance. Therefore, dietary addition of 0.2% of plum or omija could be applicable as potential antioxidant sources in broiler chick production.