Growth performance and antioxidant capacity of broilers supplemented with Echinacea purpurea L. in the diet

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of dried Echinacea purpurea L. (EP) on the growth performance and antioxidant activity of broiler chickens. Five hundred 1-d-old broilers (Arbor Acres) were evenly divided by sex and randomly allocated into 5 groups: a control group (corn-soybean meal diet) and groups receiving 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, or 2.0% dried EP. The treatments had no significant effects on BW gain during the starter and grower periods (P > 0.05). However, in the grower period, the feed: gain of broilers in the dried EP-supplemented groups was significantly improved compared with that of the control group. Moreover, the feed: gain of the 1.0% EP group was significantly decreased over the feed: gain of the control group in the starter period and over the entire experimental period. The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, catalase, and superoxide dismutase contents of the serum, liver, and spleen of 35-d-old broilers in the 0.5 to 2.0% EP groups were significantly higher than those of broilers in the other groups. Ammonia N concentration was not significantly different among treatments in the jejunum-ileum and ceca. In conclusion, dried EP powder can be used as a feed additive to improve the feed conversion and antioxidant activity of broilers. The recommended dosage of dried EP powder in the diets of broilers is 0.5 to 1.0%.