Effects of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides on performance, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and meat quality in Pekin ducks

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharide (ABP) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immune function, relative organ weight, ileal microflora, and meat quality in Pekin ducks. A total of 1,200 female 1-day-old Pekin ducklings (51.2 +/- 0.2 g) were blocked based on body weight (BW) and randomly allocated into 3 treatments with 10 replicates of 40 birds each. The experiment lasted for 6 wk, and dietary treatments included corn-soybean meal-based diet supplemented with 0, 0.02, and 0.04% ABP. The supplementation of ABP increased (P < 0.05) body weight gain (BWG) and final BW linearly during day 22 to 42 and day 1 to 42, respectively, but decreased (P < 0.05) feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) linearly during day 22 to 42 and day 1 to 42. The inclusion of ABP increased (P < 0.05) serum superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidative capacity, catalase, complement3, complement4, immunoglobin A, immunoglobin G, interleukin-2, interferon-g, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha linearly. The relative weight of breast meat was increased (P < 0.05) linearly, but the relative weight of abdominal fat was decreased (P < 0.05) linearly with the increasing dietary ABP supplementation. The supplementation of ABP increased (P < 0.05) ileal Lactobacilli counts linearly, whereas decreased (P < 0.05) Escherichia coli counts linearly. Taken together, the inclusion of ABP promoted BWG and final BW during day 22 to 42 and the entire experiment, decreased F/G during day 22 to 42 and day 1 to 42, and partially improved antioxidant activities, immunity, and gut microflora in Pekin ducks.