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.
- 1Poultry Center, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX, United States.
- 2Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Qena University, Qena, Egypt.
- 3Regional Center for Food and Feed, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt.
Abstract
Background
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.Methods
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.Results
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.Conclusion
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.
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BibTeX
@article{abdelwareth2026dietary,
title = {{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.}},
author = {Ahmed A A Abdel-Wareth and Mohamed A Fawaz and Abdalla H H Ali and Hazem G M El-Sayed and Ayman A M Abd El-Hafez and Atef M Saleem and Md Salahuddin and Jayant Lohakare and Hamdy A Hassan},
journal = {Frontiers in veterinary science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fvets.2026.1969225},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952575},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - 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.
AU - Ahmed A A Abdel-Wareth
AU - Mohamed A Fawaz
AU - Abdalla H H Ali
AU - Hazem G M El-Sayed
AU - Ayman A M Abd El-Hafez
AU - Atef M Saleem
AU - Md Salahuddin
AU - Jayant Lohakare
AU - Hamdy A Hassan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Frontiers in veterinary science
DO - 10.3389/fvets.2026.1969225
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42952575
AB - Background 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.Methods 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.Results 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.Conclusion 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.
SN - 2297-1769
ER -