Vol. 8, Issue 10 (2019)

Author(s):
Jyotsana, Pradeep Kumar and RS Berwal

Abstract:
A 6 week feeding trial was carried out to study the influence of dietary inclusion of Ashwagandha root powder on gut microflora and immune status of broiler birds. A total of 300, one day-old commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into six dietary treatments with five replicates per treatment and each replicate has ten birds. The control group (T₁) was offered maize- soybean meal based diet which was formulated as per specifications to fulfill the metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein requirements of broilers. The first group was kept as a control (T₁) and given the basal diet without antibiotic while second (T₂) basal diet with antibiotic, third (T₃), fourth (T₄), fifth (T₅) and sixth (T₆) groups were supplemented with Ashwagandha root powder @ 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1%, respectively in the diet. On day 42, feeding chicks Ashwagandha root powder at different levels significantly (P<0.05) reduced Escherichia coli (E. coli) count while Lactobacillus spp count were significantly higher (P<0.05) in the gut when compared to control group. The mRNA expression levels of Toll like receptors (TLRs) TLR2 was increased and a down regulation was observed in TLR4 (P<0.05) when different levels of Ashwagandha root powder were supplemented, while, TLR7 did not show any significant change. Supplemented diet with Ashwagandha root powder may be useful in modulating broilers gut by controlling enteropathogens that help to utilize feed efficiently, which subsequently enhances the growth performances of broiler chickens. Thus, it can be inferred that the inclusion of the Ashwagandha root powder could influence gut microbiota and immune status of birds by augmenting the T cell mediated immune response.