Efficacy of Phytogenic Additive (Spondia mombinSpondia mombin) to Mitigate the Toxic Effects of Aflatoxicosis in Cockrel Chickens at Grower Phase

Abstract

The presence of mycotoxins in poultry feed can cause growth retardation, immune suppression, organ damage, and intestinal dysfunction, with the most prevalent being aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). In this study, the ameliorative effects of ethanol extract of Spondias mombin (EEHP) leaves were compared against cockerel chickens fed diets containing 35 μg/kg feed of AFB1 on growth performance, carcass characteristics, lymphoid organs, and intestinal morphology. The ethanol extract was made with ethanol as the extraction solvent. A total of 150 cockerel chickens were randomly distributed into five treatment groups (AFB1, EEHP, AFB1 + EEHP, positive control, and negative control) in two experimental periods (6–9 weeks and 9–12 weeks). Growth performance, organ weights, carcass traits, and intestinal morphometry data were analyzed by analysis of variance. In the first phase (6-9 weeks), significant differences (p<0.05) were found with the body weight and the weight gain, where EEHP supplemented birds exhibited higher values at the start of the exposure (960.00 g and 260.00 g, respectively), while aflatoxin exposed birds showed lower values at the end of the phase (1150.00 g and 413.64 g, respectively). Feed intake also varied significantly (p < 0.05) with control group having the highest feed intake (1250.78 g). During this period, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in carcase characteristics, but the weights of liver (30.00 g vs. 18.50 g), kidney (7.50 g vs. 5.00 g), and heart (7.33 g vs. 4.17 g) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the birds exposed to aflatoxin. During the second phase (9–12 weeks), the birds receiving EEHP had significantly higher final body weight (1500.00 g) and dressed weight (1256.00 g) than did the birds receiving only aflatoxin. There was also improved intestinal development with enhanced jejunal weight (27.50 g vs. 14.03 g) and ileal length (56.37 cm vs. 45.10 cm). In summary, overall growth performance, organ integrity, and intestinal morphology were improved with EEHP supplementation in both phases, suggesting the protective effect on AFB1 induced toxicity. The result indicated EEHP could be used as a natural feed supplement to control the aflatoxicosis in poultry production.