Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) Seed on the Growth Performance, Blood Lipid and Meat Quality of Broiler Chickens

Background: Broiler diets frequently include fats and oils to improve energy density, feed palatability and functionality associated with PUFAs and MUFAs. The purpose of this research was to see how dietary supplementation of safflower seed affected broiler growth, lipid profile and meat color. Methods: In this study total two hundred male broiler chicks of one-day-old were fed a basal diet over one week. After one week, randomly chicks were distributed into five treatment groups, i.e. one which were fed with basal diet (control) and other fed with different ratios (2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%) of safflower seed, respectively. Each treatment included five pens, each with eight chicks. The diet was formulated into two phases: starter phase (7-21 d) and the finisher phase (22-42 d). Result: The birds fed rations supplemented with different levels of safflower seed resulted in increased (P<0.05) BWG and FCR during the last 21 days of the trial. In this experiment, the highest and lowest BWG were observed in 5% safflower seed and 0% safflower seed, respectively. No differences were observed in feed intake during the starter phase and finisher phase among the groups. In blood lipid profile, HDL-C was not different in all treatment, while CHO, LDL-C and VLD-C concentrate levels were decreased (P<0.05) when fed with different levels of safflower seed. Dietary supplement of safflower seed showed no significant (P>0.05) effect on meat color, pH and WHC. Hence, safflower seed could be used as a natural energy source to boost growth development, decrease cholesterol levels and improve meat color.