ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Intestinal villus histological alterations in broilers fed dietary dried fermented ginger

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of dietary dried fermented ginger (DFG) on intestinal villous histological alteration and growth performance, 64 Marshall Chunky male broilers were divided into four groups, each with four replicates of four chickens. Birds were fed the basal commercial mash diet supplemented with DFG at 0 (control), 5, 10 and 20 g/kg for 42 days. With increasing dietary DFG levels, feed intake tended to decrease and significantly decreased in the 20 g/kg DFG group (p < 0.05). Weight gain was higher in all the DFG groups, with the highest in the 10 g/kg DFG group (p < 0.05), resulting in an improved feed efficiency in all the DFG groups. Intestinal villus height, villus area, cell area and cell mitosis in all the intestinal segments were higher in all the DFG groups than in the control group. Protuberated cells and cell clusters were found in all the DFG groups, suggesting that the intestinal villi and cells might be hypertrophied. The present results indicate that dietary DFG can be used as a natural feed additive to induce broiler growth performance as a result of stimulation of morphological maturation and in consequence intestinal function.

Effects of a phytogenic feed additive on growth performance, selected blood<br>criteria and jejunal morphology in broiler chickens

“…Regarding the intestinal morphology, heavier chickens are generally associated with longer villi, greater villus width and higher villus surface area as compared to lighter ones (Adibmoradi et al, 2006;Incharoen et al, 2010). In the present study there were insignificantly increased villus heights and decreased crypt depths in the jejunum of birds receiving 150 mg/kg PFA compared to the control.…”

The relationship between intestinal histology and function as shown by compensatory enlargement of remnant villi after midgut resection in chickens

“…Therefore, morphological alteration of such cells is also an important observation that demonstrates that alterations in intestinal histology are related to intestinal function. In fact, many protuberated cells are observed in chickens showing an increased body weight gain (Incharoen et al, 2010). This suggests that the present protuberated cells on the anastomosing villi might have hypertrophied to obtain insufficient nutrients.…”

Preliminary Study: Egg Production Performance, Egg Quality and Blood Plasma Cholesterol Concentration in Laying Hens Fed Dietary Dried Fermented Ginger and/or Fermented Corncob Powder

“…Preparation of the DFG and JMS were described in detail in our previous studies [3,4]. In short, Japanese mugwort plants were harvested and ensiled at room temperature to produce silage juice.…”

“…(DFG), fermented with Japanese Mugwort (Artemisia princeps Pamp.) Silage juice (JMS) liquid, increased the production performance of layer chickens [3] and body weight gain in broilers [4] due to the hypertrophy of intestinal villi and epithelial cells. However, this incurs high production costs due to the high purchase price of ginger.…”