Effect of dietary supplementation of curcumin nano particles on carcass attributes and sensory parameters in broiler chicken

Introduction

The poultry industry is one of the fastest-growing and most prolific sectors, providing highquality meat rich in protein, minerals, polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially omega-3 fatty acids) and vitamins (Dalle Zotte et al., 2017; Rouger et al., 2017) [10,42] . The poultry industry in developing countries faces challenges due to the high costs of traditional feed ingredients like yellow corn and soybean meal, which are commonly used in poultry rations (El-Hack et al., 2015; Alagawany and Attia, 2015) [1,3] . There has been growing interest in using unconventional feed ingredients for poultry in developing countries (Alagawany and Attia, 2015; Alagawany et al., 2017) [3,4] . The poultry sector is one of the fastest-growing segments of Indian agriculture, contributing approximately 1% to the national GDP and about 30% of the livestock Gross Value Added (GVA) (Economic Survey, 2024-25; DAHD, 2024) [18,11] . The total meat production in the country is 10.50 million tonnes during 2024-25, of which poultry contributes 49%. India ranks 4 th in the world in terms of total Meat production (Source: FAO). The meat production has increased by 2.46% as compared to the previous year (BAHS 2024-25) [11] . Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound obtained from the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa), has been widely used as a feed additive in poultry because of its antimicrobial (Singh et al., 2010) [10] , antioxidant, anti-inflammatory (Galli et al., 2018; Karthikeyan et al., 2021) [17,25] and immunomodulatory properties (Zhang et al., 2024) [52] . It also promotes the secretion of digestive enzymes, thereby improving nutrient digestion and utilization (Toghyani et al., 2011) [49] and enhancing the antioxidant defence system in broiler chickens (Badran, 2020; Reda et al., 2020; Ranjbar et al., 2020) [9,41,40] . In addition, curcumin helps reduce lipid oxidation, a major factor affecting broiler meat quality (Sultana et al., 2017) [47] . However, the practical use of native curcumin is limited because of its poor bioavailability, which results from extensive intestinal and hepatic metabolism and its rapid elimination from the body, leading to low accumulation in blood and tissues (Moniruzzaman et al., 2020; Karthikeyan et al., 2021) [28,25] . [21,31,36,37] . Studies by Fathi et al. (2024) [16] and Gumus et al. (2023) [19] reported that dietary supplementation with low to moderate levels of curcumin improved intestinal morphology and meat quality in broiler chickens. Similarly, Partovi et al. (2019) [35] found that supplementation with 300 mg CurNPs/kg diet improved carcass traits, breast meat protein content, redness and oxidative stability in broilers infected with Eimeria spp. It also reduced drip and cooking loss without adversely affecting the texture of the meat. The chicks were reared on a deep litter system using 5-7 cm wood shavings under standard conditions, with regular raking to prevent compaction.

Materials and Methods

Feeding of experimental animals:

The feed for brooder stock was prepared according to NRC (2001) and made sure that the feed contained 22% CP by the Pearson Square method and ingredients were ground to pass a 1 mm mesh. Feed was analyzed for proximate composition (moisture, CP, fat, fibre, NFE, ash, Ca, P) as per AOAC (2005) [5] and nano curcumin was provided to the researcher at the start of the experiment. Treatment group T 1 was fed a basal or control diet. While T 2 , T 3 and T 4 groups received a control diet, additionally curcumin nano particles @ 60 mg/kg, @ 120 mg/kg and @ 180 mg/kg were fed. (2013) [22] . An eight-point hedonic scale (1 = Extremely poor, 2 = Very poor, 3 = Moderately poor, 4 = Slightly poor, 5 = Fair, 6 = Good, 7 = Very good and 8 = Excellent) was used as a sensory index for evaluating meat sensory qualities.

Carcass and sensory attributes:

Statistical analysis:

Data were subjected to one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) under a completely randomized design (CRD), following the statistical procedures outlined by Snedecor and Cochran (1994) [46] , using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-2011). Mean separation was performed via Duncan's Multiple Range Test (Duncan, 1955) to identify homogeneous subsets among treatment means. Treatment effects were considered statistically significant at p≤0.05.

Results and Discussion

The detailed chemical composition of the experimental diet, expressed on dry matter basis, is provided in Table 1.

Carcass quality traits (CQT):

The results of carcass attributes showed that curcumin nano particles significantly enhanced dressing, thigh, drumstick, breast, back and heart percentage as compared to the control group. Shrinkage (%) showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) among the treatment groups and average shrinkage (%) was lower in the treated group compared to the control group. Dressing (%) and ready-to-cook yield (%) were recorded as higher (p < 0.05) in treatment groups as compared to the control group. However, thigh, drumstick and breast percentages varied significantly (p < 0.05), with higher values in all treatment groups. The value of back and wing% was found to be minimum in treatment T 2 with significant differences (p < 0.01) among all groups. Neck, heart, liver and gizzard% also had significant differences among all groups. Similar to our observation, Mustafa et al. (2021) [30] Results revealed that the highest dressing percentage was in the group fed 75g/t of curcumin under normal conditions; however, such an increase is numerical. Conversely, other studies have indicated that adding turmeric powder to broiler diets significantly enhances dressing percentage (El-Maaty et al.

2014) [14] and significantly increases breast and wing percentage of broiler carcass compared to the control diet according to Kafi et al. (2017) [24] . Consistent with these findings, other researchers have reported a significant increase in carcass yield percentage when the diet was supplemented with curcumin (Durrani et al. 2006 and Arslan et al. 2017) [13,7] . Diet supplementation with 300 mg/kg nanocurcumin increased final body weight, carcass weight, breast and thigh weight (p < .05) compared with the control group, as reported by Partovi et al. (2019) [35] .

Development of the digestive organs:

The proventriculus weight (%) exhibited a significant (p < 0.05) difference between all groups. Small intestine weight (%) did not show a significant difference, while small intestine length showed a statistically significant difference between treatment groups. Similarly, large intestine weight (%), large intestine length and average cecal length showed significant differences in treatment groups T 3 and T 4 compared with the control group. In contrast, the T 2 group showed no significant difference from the control group. Spleen weight (%) was recorded with a non-significant (p>0.05) difference in all groups. Similarly, Rajput et al. (2013) found that Curcumin (200 mg/kg) feed improved overall metabolic efficiency, increased the absorption area of the small intestine by increasing villus height, and reduced abdominal fat deposition. Fathi et al. (2024) [16] were consistent with the findings of Nouzarian et al. (2011) [33] , who recorded an increased relative weight of the spleen in broiler chicks supplemented with a curcumin-supplemented diet. While Li et al. (2001) [27] found that the addition of curcumin and selenium in combination was effective in reducing the relative spleen weight, only curcumin maintained the weight of the Bursa de Fabricius as statistically similar to the nano curcumin group. Sensory Evaluation of Meat: No notable differences were observed in any of the sensory parameters among the treatment groups, but colour, odor, juiciness, flavour and overall acceptability of the meat sample were the highest in T 4 (Nano curcumin @ 180 mg/kg) and lower in the control group. Nano curcumin supplemented groups were higher in all sensory parameters, which shows that nano curcumin improves the quality of meat. Similar to our observation, Abd El-Hack et al. (2021) [2] observed that zinc and curcumin nano particles and combinations of Bacillus licheniformis resulted in the most significant enhancement of the yellowness, juiciness, tenderness and taste of the meat compared to the control group. Similarly, addition of 300, 400 and 500 mg/kg curcumin to duck feed improved meat colour, increased water storage capacity, inhibited lipid or protein oxidation and improved duck meat quality according to Jin et al. (2021) [8] . Similar to our findings, Attia et al.

(2017) reported that there was no significant effect of turmeric extract on the textural characteristics of broiler chicken meat.

Conclusion

Dietary supplementation of curcumin nanoparticles positively influenced the carcass attributes of broiler chickens, while having no significant adverse effect on the sensory characteristics of meat. These findings indicate that curcumin nanoparticles can be considered a promising dietary supplement for improving carcass quality and maintaining desirable sensory attributes of broiler meat.

References

1. Abd El-Hack ME, Alagawany M, Farag MR, Dhama K. Use of maize distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in laying hen diets: trends and advances. Asian Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances. 2015 Oct 15;10(11):690-707.
2. Abd El-Hack ME, Alaidaroos BA, Farsi RM, AbouKassem DE, El-Saadony MT, Saad AM, et al. Impacts of supplementing broiler diets with biological curcumin, zinc nanoparticles and Bacillus licheniformis on growth, carcass traits, blood indices, meat quality and cecal microbial load. Animals. 2021 Jul;11(7):1878.
3. Alagawany M, Attia A. Effects of feeding sugar beet pulp and Avizyme supplementation on performance, egg quality, nutrient digestion and nitrogen balance of laying Japanese quail. Avian Biology Research. 2015 May;8(2):79-88.
4. Alagawany M, El-Hack MEA, Saeed M, Arain MA, Bhutto ZA, Fazlani SA, et al. Effect of some phytogenic additives as dietary supplements on performance, egg quality, serum biochemical parameters and oxidative status in laying hens. 2017. International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research https://www.biochemjournal.com
5. AOAC (Association of Official Analytical Chemists). Official methods of analysis of the Association of Analytical Chemists International. 2005.
6. APHA (American Public Health Association). Compendium of methods for the microbiological examination of foods. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association; 2002.
7. Arslan M, ul Haq A, Ashraf M, Iqbal J, Mund MD. Effect of turmeric (Curcuma longa) supplementation on growth performance, immune response, carcass characteristics and cholesterol profile in broilers. Veterinaria. 2017;66(1):16-20.
8. Attia YA, Al-Harthi MA, Hassan SS. Turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) as a phytogenic growth promoter alternative for antibiotic and comparable to mannan oligosaccharides for broiler chicks. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Pecuarias. 2017;8(1):11-21.
9. Badran AM. Effect of dietary curcumin and curcumin nanoparticles supplementation on growth performance, immune response and antioxidant of broilers chickens. Egyptian Poultry Science Journal. 2020;40(1):325-343.
10. Dalle Zotte A, Tasoniero G, Puolanne E, Remignon H, Cecchinato M, Catelli E, et al. Effect of "wooden breast" appearance on poultry meat quality, histological traits, and lesions characterization. Czech Journal of Animal Science. 2017 Feb;62(2):51-57.
11. Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD). Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics (BAHS). Government of India; 2024.
12. Duncan DB. The multiple range and F-tests. Biometrics. 2011 Mar;11:1-24.
13. Durrani Z. Effect of different levels of feed added turmeric (Curcuma longa) on the performance of broiler chicks. 2006.
14. El-Maaty A, Hayam MA, Rabie MH, El-Khateeb AY. Response of heat-stressed broiler chicks to dietary supplementation with some commercial herbs. 2014.
15. Fathi M, Rezaee V, Zarrinkavyani K, Mardani P. The impact of curcumin nanoparticles (CurNPs) on growth performance, antioxidant indices, blood biochemistry, gut morphology and cecal microbial profile of broiler chickens. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section AAnimal Science. 2024;73(1-2):10-21.
16. Galli GM, Da Silva AS, Biazus AH, Reis JH, Boiago MM, Topazio JP, et al. Feed addition of curcumin to laying hens showed anticoccidial effect, and improved egg quality and animal health. Research in Veterinary Science. 2018 Jun;118:101-106.
17. Government of India. Economic Survey 2024-25. Ministry of Finance; 2024.
18. Gumus R, Ozbilgin A, Urcar GS, Kara KANBER. Effects of Dietary Resveratrol and Curcumin Supplements on Meat Quality and Storage Time in Broilers. Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science. 2023;25(4):eRBCA-2023.
19. Hajati H, Hassanabadi A, Golian A, NassiriMoghaddam H, Nassiri MR. The effect of in ovo injection of grape seed extract and vitamin C on hatchability, antioxidant activity, yolk sac weight, performance and ileal micro flora of broiler chickens. 2014.
20. Hani U, Shivakumar HG. Solubility enhancement and delivery systems of curcumin a herbal a review. Current Drug Delivery. 2014;11(6):792-804.
21. Jayasena DD, Jung S, Kim HJ, Bae YS, Yong HI, Lee JH, et al. Comparison of quality traits of meat from Korean native chickens and broilers used in two different traditional Korean cuisines. AsianAustralasian Journal of Animal Sciences. 2013 Jul;26(7):1038.
22. Jin S, Yang H, Liu F, Pang Q, Shan A, Feng X. Effect of dietary curcumin supplementation on duck growth performance, antioxidant capacity and breast meat quality. Foods. 2021 Dec;10(12):2981.
23. Kafi A, Uddin MN, Uddin MJ, Khan MMH, Haque E. Effect of dietary supplementation of turmeric (Curcuma longa), ginger (Zingiber officinale) and their combination as feed additives on feed intake, growth performance and economics of broiler. 2017.
24. Karthikeyan A, Young KN, Moniruzzaman M, Beyene AM, Do K, Kalaiselvi S, et al. Curcumin and its modified formulations on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): the story so far and future outlook. Pharmaceutics. 2021 Apr;13(4):484.
25. Khajeh Bami M, Afsharmanesh M, Ebrahimnejad H. Effect of dietary Bacillus coagulans and different forms of zinc on performance, intestinal microbiota, carcass and meat quality of broiler chickens. Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins. 2020 Apr;12(2):461-472.
26. Li Z, Nestor KE, Saif YM, Anderson JW, Patterson RA. Effect of selection for increased body weight in turkeys on lymphoid organ weights, phagocytosis, and antibody responses to fowl cholera and Newcastle disease-inactivated vaccines. Poultry Science. 2001 Jun;80(6):689-694.
27. Moniruzzaman M, Min T. Curcumin, curcumin nanoparticles and curcumin nanospheres: A review on their pharmacodynamics based on monogastric farm animal, poultry and fish nutrition. Pharmaceutics. 2020 May;12(5):447.
28. Morsy MK, Al-Dalain SY, Haddad MA, Diab M, AbdElaaty EM, Abdeen A, et al. Curcumin nanoparticles as a natural antioxidant and antimicrobial preservative against foodborne pathogens in processed chicken fingers. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 2023;7:1267075.
29. Mustafa MM, Karadas F, Tayeb IT. Adding different levels of turmeric powder and curcumin in the diet on broiler performance, carcass traits, immunity and gut morphology of broiler chicken under normal and heat stress condition. The Iraqi Journal of Agricultural Science. 2021;52(2):512-526.
30. Nabavi SF, Daglia M, Moghaddam AH, Habtemariam S, Nabavi SM. Curcumin and liver disease: from chemistry to medicine. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety. 2014 Jan;13(1):62-77.
31. Nm J, Joseph A, Maliakel B, Im K. Dietary addition of a standardized extract of turmeric (TurmaFEEDTM) improves growth performance and carcass quality of broilers. Journal of Animal Science and Technology. 2018;60(1):8.