The Use of Unripe Banana Flour as a Functional Feed Ingredient on Blood Profile, Serum Biochemical and Intestinal Indices of Broilers

The study evaluated the effect of unripe banana flour (UBF) given individually or in combination with probiotics or multienzymes on blood profile, serum biochemical parameters and intestinal indices of broilers.

About 392 broiler chicks were assigned to four groups (each with seven replicates) including CONT (birds provided with control feed), UBF (birds provided with 5% UBF in feed), UBFPRO (5% UBF plus 0.05% probiotics) and UBFZYM (5% UBF plus 0.05% multienzyme). Blood and intestinal segment and digesta were collected on days 21 and 38.

On day 21, the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) value in UBF was lower (p < 0.05) than UBFPRO. At day 38, haemoglobin levels in UBFZYM were higher (p < 0.05) than in CONT and UBF. Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were higher (p < 0.05) in UBFZYM than in the other groups. UBFZYM had higher (p < 0.05) leukocyte counts than CONT. Uric acid levels in UBFZYM were lower (p < 0.05) than in CONT on day 21. On day 38, UBFPRO chicks had lower (p = 0.05) pH values in the duodenum than other groups. UBFZYM had higher (p = 0.05) pH values in the ileum, while UBFPRO had higher (p = 0.05) pH values in the caecum than the CONT groups. Lactic acid bacteria were found in higher (p < 0.05) concentrations in the ileum of UBFPRO and UBFZYM than in the CONT at day 38. The lactic acid bacteria to coliform ratio in UBFPRO and UBFZYM ileums was also higher (p = 0.07) than in CONT. On day 38, the crypt depth of the duodenum in UBFZYM was lower (p < 0.05) than in CONT. The duodenum villus height to crypt depth ratio was higher (p < 0.05) in UBFZYM than in the other groups. The villus height to crypt depth ratio in the UBF ileum was higher (p < 0.05) than in the CONT. When compared to CONT broilers, UBF, UBFPRO, and UBFZYM broilers had higher (p < 0.05) daily weight gain and feed efficiency.

Broiler growth performance was improved when UBF was given alone or in combination with probiotics or multienzymes. The use of probiotics or multienzymes in combination with UBF improved the intestinal bacterial population, while multienzymes improved broiler physiology and intestinal morphology.