Dietary Moringa oleifera leaf powder and xylanase supplementation as a sustainable nutritional strategy: effects on growth performance, serum biochemistry, and selected cecal bacterial populations in broiler chickens

Abstract

Phytogenic feed additives and exogenous enzymes have attracted increasing interest as sustainable nutritional strategies for improving poultry production. This study evaluated the effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP) and xylanase, individually and in combination, on growth performance, carcass traits, serum biochemical indices, thyroid hormones, and cecal bacterial populations in broilers. A total of 160 one-day-old Cobb broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangements consisting of two levels of MLP (0 or 4 g/kg diet) and two levels of xylanase (0 or 1.5 g/kg diet). Each treatment included five replicate pens of eight birds and was fed for 42 d. Growth performance, carcass characteristics, serum metabolites, and cecal bacterial populations were determined. Dietary treatments significantly affected growth performance variables. Birds receiving the combined MLP and xylanase supplementation exhibited greater final body weight and body weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio than birds fed the control diet ( p  < 0.05). Feed intake was reduced by MLP supplementation, particularly during the grower and overall experimental periods. Relative liver weight was reduced in xylanase-supplemented birds ( p  < 0.05), whereas dressing percentage and the relative weights of other organs were not affected. Dietary treatments also influenced serum biochemical traits and thyroid hormones. MLP supplementation reduced serum glucose concentration, whereas MLP alone reduced serum total lipid concentration, whereas xylanase affected circulating thyroid hormone concentrations ( p  < 0.05). Serum total protein, albumin, globulin, and albumin-to-globulin ratio were not altered by dietary treatment. Cecal bacterial enumeration showed MLP alone increased Lactobacillus counts, whereas all supplemented treatments reduced E. coli counts compared with the control group ( p  < 0.05). Significant MLP × xylanase interactions were observed for biochemical variables. Dietary supplementation with MLP and xylanase influenced growth performance, thyroid hormone concentrations, and cultivable cecal bacterial populations in broiler chickens. The combined supplementation resulted in the most favorable growth performance and feed efficiency among the evaluated treatments. These findings support the potential application of MLP and xylanase as components of sustainable nutritional strategies in broiler production. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying these responses.