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BackgroundIndiscriminate use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry farming has caused emergence of new pathogenic strains. The situation has warrented the development of safe and alternative growth promoters and immunity enhancers in livestock. Herbal additives in animal and bird feed is a centuries-old practice. Thus, the present study investigated the efficacy of a standardized formulation of lipophilic turmeric extract containing curcumin and turmerones, (TF-36), as a natural growth promoter poultry feed additive.MethodsThe study was designed on 180 one-day old chicks, assigned into three groups. Control group (T0) kept on basal diet and supplemented groups T0.5 and T1 fed with 0.5% and 1% TF-36 fortified basal diet for 42 days. Each dietary group consisted of six replicates of ten birds. Body weight, food intake, food conversion ratio, skin colour, blood biochemical analysis and antioxidant status of serum were investigated.ResultsBody weight improved significantly in T1 with a 10% decrease in FCR as compared to the control. TF-36 supplementation in T1 enhanced the antioxidant enzyme activity significantly (p < 0.05) with a decrease (p < 0.05) in lipid peroxidation. It also caused a slight yellow skin pigmentation without any change in meat color, indicating the bioavailability of curcumin from TF-36. However, no significant change in the concentration of serum creatinine, total protein and liver enzyme activities were observed, indicating the safety.ConclusionIn summary, we concluded that TF-36 can be a natural feed additive to improve growth performance in poultry, probably due to the better antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effects contributed by the better bioavailability of curcuminoids and turmerones. Besides, curcuminoids and turmerones were also known to be gastroprotective and anti-inflammatory agents.

Though kitchen spices constitute an important source of dietary antioxidants, their consumption at a physiologically relevant dose is very often hampered by their unpleasant flavour characteristics. The present paper describes a novel approach to derive stable de-flavoured spice extracts with minimised taste and odour profiles which are suitable for impregnation into a variety of food and beverage matrices at physiologically relevant doses. A popular kitchen spice, clove bud (Syzygium aromaticum L), having strong flavour and pungency characteristics was selected in the present study to derive a de-flavoured extract with a standardised polyphenolic profile (Clovinol) and was incorporated into various foods. The antioxidant efficacy of Clovinol on healthy human volunteers who check and answer official emails involving responsibility was investigated by analysing their endogenous antioxidant enzymes and the extent of lipid peroxidation upon consumption of Clovinol either as capsules or in a different food/beverage at 250 mg per serving per day for 30 days. It was observed that Clovinol can be conveniently incorporated in various food matrices without flavour issues and the consumption of such food/beverage items may support an effective detoxification process with an average elevation of 33 ± 3% in catalase, 66 ± 8% in SOD, 56 ± 5% in GPx and 167 ± 21% in GSH levels, and 81 ± 11% attenuation in membrane lipid peroxidation level.

Cinnamomum zeylanicum is a popular kitchen spice widely investigated for insulin potentiating effects. Though a group of water soluble polyphenols belonging to the oligomeric procyanidins has been identified as the bioactive principle, the lack of systematic information on the effect of the polyphenol content on safety and anti-diabetic efficacy remains as a major limitation for the development of optimized and standardized cinnamon extracts for functional use. In the present paper, water soluble extracts of Cinnamomum zeylanicum containing 45 and 75% gallic acid equivalents (GAE) of polyphenol content were prepared by a novel process and characterized by tandem mass spectrometry. The polyphenol enhanced extracts were shown to be safe and offered better antioxidant potential, hypoglycemic effect, hypolipidimic effect, and significant decrease in other biochemical parameters as compared to the standard aqueous extract containing 15% GAE, when administered to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats at 200 mg per kg b.w. for 30 days. The efficacy of polyphenol extracts in lowering blood glucose levels and ameliorating oxidative stress was further demonstrated in humans by administrating 'procynZ-45' containing 45% GAE polyphenols at a relatively low dosage of (125 mg × 2) per day for 30 days to 15 volunteers who had elevated fasting blood glucose levels; but not involved in any medication.

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