Influence of chitosan dietary supplement on growth performance, blood indices, and characteristics of meat quality in chickens

This research aims to assess how chitosan supplementation impacts growth rate, gut morphology, meat quality, and blood parameters in both indigenous and commercial chicken breeds. The 2x2 factorial experimental design involved two breeds of chickens (180-day-old chicks in total from each breed), Local Omani and Cobb430-type broilers, and two experimental dietary treatments. The treatments were (1) the basal diet with no chitosan supplementation (Control treatment) and (2) the basal diet supplemented with chitosan (0.05%). The findings indicated that, in both chicken breeds, feeding chitosan significantly (p<0.001) improved the feed conversion ratio and weight gain compared to the control group. When considering average body gain over a (0-42 days) period, both broiler/Omani chickens supplemented with chitosan gained approximately 11.3% and 26.3% more weight than their counterparts in the control groups, respectively. The jejunum and ileum of Cobb430 broilers and local Omani chickens fed dietary chitosan exhibited higher height of the villi and the ratio of villus height to crypt length compared (p<0.001) to the control. The levels of RBC, WBC, heterophils, lymphocytes, and total protein in Cobb430 broiler and local Omani chickens fed dietary chitosan were significantly higher (p<0.001), showing increases of 18.3%, 54.4%, 18.6%, 12.1%, and 16.9%, respectively, compared to the control groups. Dietary chitosan supplementation significantly influenced the lightness (L*), pH, and cooking loss % in the breast muscles of Cobb430 broilers and local Omani chickens (p<0.001). In conclusion, the supplementation of 0.05% chitosan as a performance enhancer improved the growth production and meat quality parameters in broiler and Omani chicken diets. Further research is recommended to determine the optimal chitosan dosage for local chickens to enhance growth performance.