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Effects of ginger root (Zingiber officinale) processed to different particle sizes on growth performance, antioxidant status, and serum metabolites of broiler chickens

G. F. Zhang^*, Z. B. Yang^*,1, Y. Wang, W. R. Yang^*, S. Z. Jiang^* and G. S. Gai

^* Department of Animal Sciences and Technology, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-an, Shandong, P. R. China, 271018; Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge Research Centre, PO Box 3000, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, T1J 4B1; and Department of Material Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Room 2713, Yifu Building, Beijing, P. R. China, 100084

¹ Corresponding author: yangzb{at}sdau.edu.cn

A study using 144 one-day-old Arbor Acres broilers was conducted to assess the effects of dried ginger root (Zingiber officinale) that was processed to particle sizes of 300, 149, 74, 37, and 8.4 µm on growth performance, antioxidant status, and serum metabolites of broiler chickens. The birds were housed in 24 wire cages in an environmentally controlled room. Dietary treatments were no supplementation (control) and supplementation with ginger root processed to 5 particle sizes at the level of 5 g/kg of diet. Average daily gain, ADFI, and feed conversion rate of chicks of each cage were measured weekly. Blood samples from 8 broilers per treatment were obtained at d 21 and 42 of the experiment to determine antioxidant enzymatic activities and metabolites in the serum, and the birds were subsequently killed to determine carcass yield and abdominal fat content. All broilers had similar ADFI or feed conversion rate over the entire experimental period. However, broilers supplemented with ginger powder tended to have higher ADG and had greater (P = 0.014) carcass yield compared with that of the control. Supplementation of ginger increased (P < 0.001) activities of total superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase but reduced (P < 0.01) concentrations of malondialdehyde and cholesterol in serum of broilers at 21 and 42 d of age. Concentration of total protein in serum of ginger-supplemented broilers tended (P = 0.092) to be higher at 21 d and was higher (P = 0.002) at 42 d of age compared with that of control broilers. Reducing particle size of ginger powder linearly reduced (P < 0.05) cholesterol (d 21) and linearly increased (P < 0.05) glutathione peroxidase (d 21), total superoxide dismutase (d 42), and total protein (d 21 and 42). Supplementation of ginger at the level of 5 g/kg improved antioxidant status of broilers and the efficacy was enhanced as the particle size was reduced from 300 to 37 µm.

Key Words: ginger • broiler • particle size • growth • antioxidant status