Garlic (Allium sativum) and mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) powder: Investigation of performance, meat quality, serum profile lipid, and intestinal morphology in broilers

Background: With the ban on the use of antibiotics in poultry nutrition, the opinion of nutritionists turned to their alternatives. Garlic and mushroom are the two important phytobiotic compounds in poultry nutrition.<br /> Objectives: This experiment was done to investigate the effect of garlic powder (GP) and mushroom powder (MP) on the growth performance, meat quality, serum lipid profile, and intestinal morphology of broilers.<br /> Methods: Five hundred and seventy-six one-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were assigned to eight treatments with six replications based on a completely randomized design in a factorial arrangement of 4*2 with four levels of GP (0.00, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50%) and two levels of MP (0.00, 1.00%).<br /> Results: No significant effects of GP and MP on the performance were observed. With increasing levels of GP in the diets, the lightness and redness of breast meat decreased and increased, respectively (p p < 0.05). The effect of increasing the amount of GP on the reduction of total cholesterol level was similar in the absence or presence of MP. With increasing levels of GP in the diets, the villus height (VH) and VH to crypt depth ratio (VH: CD) increased. The use of MP in the diets significantly increased VH and VH: CD (p p < 0.05). Conclusion: The addition of GP and MP to the broilers' diets did not have any negative effect on the performance. These pharmaceutic herbs improved intestinal morphology. In addition, increasing the level of GP amended the meat color and reduced the level of serum cholesterol.