Economic evaluation of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) leaves powder supplementation in Sonali poultry birds

Introduction

Poultry production is an important component of livestock production and contributes to the availability of animal protein and income generation. Profitability in poultry farming depends largely on efficient utilization of feed and other production inputs. Therefore, reducing unnecessary expenditure while maintaining satisfactory productive performance is essential for improving the economic efficiency of poultry production. Feed represents one of the major variable costs in poultry production. Consequently, nutritional interventions that improve productive performance without causing excessive additional expenditure may contribute to better profitability. In recent years, considerable attention has been directed towards phytogenic feed additives derived from medicinal and aromatic plants as potential natural feed additives in poultry diets. Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) is an aromatic plant containing biologically active constituents, including essential oils and menthol. Its use as a dietary supplement has been investigated in poultry because of its potential effects on productive performance and feed utilization. Asadi et al. (2017) [2] reported that peppermint powder supplementation influenced productive performance and feed conversion in broiler chickens. Abdel-Wareth et al. (2019) [1] evaluated peppermint leaves and their active component in broiler diets and reported effects on productive performance and economic characteristics. Khurshid et al. (2016) [4] also investigated mint leaves as herbal dietary supplement and evaluated their effects on the performance and economics of broiler production. Sonali poultry birds are commonly reared for meat production and are appreciated for their adaptability and productive characteristics. However, information on the use of peppermint leaves powder in Sonali poultry diets is limited. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the economics of production under different levels of dietary peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) leaves powder supplementation."

Materials and Methods

Experimental site

The experiment was conducted at the Section of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Science, College of Agriculture, Nagpur, Maharashtra, during 2025-2026.

Experimental birds and design

A total of 120 Sonali day-old chicks were procured from Dhanraj Poultry Farm, Dhantoli, Nagpur. The birds were randomly distributed into four dietary treatments, each consisting of three replications with 10 birds per replication. The experiment was conducted for 56 days under a completely randomized design.

Dietary Treatments

Preparation of peppermint leaves powder

Peppermint leaves were collected, cleaned, dried under suitable conditions and ground to obtain leaves powder. The prepared powder was incorporated into the respective experimental diets at the specified inclusion levels.

Management of experimental birds

The birds were reared under a deep-litter system in a wellventilated poultry house. Standard management, feeding, watering and health-care practices were followed throughout the experimental period.

Economic analysis

The economics of production was calculated by considering the cost of day-old chicks, feed, peppermint leaves powder and rearing.

The following formulae were used:

Results and Discussion

Cost of feed consumption

The feed consumption per bird was 2.32, 2.34, 2.43 and 2.37 kg in T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively. At a feed cost of ₹37.50/kg, the corresponding feed costs were ₹87.00, ₹87.75, ₹91.12 and ₹88.87 per bird. The highest feed expenditure was therefore recorded in T 3 . This was associated with its comparatively higher feed consumption.

Cost of peppermint leaves powder

Peppermint leaves powder consumption was 0, 7.02, 12.15 and 16.59 g per bird in T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively. At ₹290/kg, the corresponding expenditure on peppermint leaves powder was ₹0.00, ₹2.03, ₹3.52 and ₹4.81 per bird. As expected, the cost of peppermint supplementation increased with increasing inclusion level. Thus, the additional cost associated with peppermint supplementation was lowest in T 2 and highest in T 4 . The total cost of production was ₹146.20, ₹148.98, ₹153.84 and ₹152.88 per bird in T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively. The highest total production cost was observed in T 3 , followed by T 4 , T 2 and T 1 . The increased cost in peppermintsupplemented groups was mainly due to the additional cost of peppermint powder and differences in feed consumption.

Total cost of production

Gross return

The final live body weights considered for economic calculation were 0.842, 0.862, 0.928 and 0.892 kg per bird in T 1 , T 2 , T 3 and T 4 , respectively. At a live-bird price of ₹300/kg, the gross returns were ₹252.60, ₹258.60, ₹278.40 and ₹267.60 per bird, respectively. The higher gross return in T 3 was primarily associated with its higher final live body weight.

Net profit

Net profit is a particularly important indicator for evaluating the practical economic value of a dietary treatment. Although T 3 incurred an additional production cost of ₹7.64/bird compared with T 1 , its gross return was ₹25.80/bird higher. Consequently, the additional return exceeded the additional production expenditure and resulted in the highest net profit. These findings are in agreement with Mohanty et al. (2020) [5] , who evaluated the effect of dietary peppermint powder supplementation in broiler chickens using four treatment groups, namely T 1 (basal diet without peppermint), T 2 (basal diet + 0.1% peppermint powder), T 3 (basal diet + 0.3% peppermint powder) and T 4 (basal diet + 0.5% peppermint powder). They observed that the total production cost increased from Rs. 171.33 in the control group (T 1 ) to Rs. 181.76 in the 0.5% peppermint powder group (T 4 ) due to the additional cost of peppermint supplementation. Nevertheless, the improved body weight and feed efficiency resulted in higher profitability, and birds fed 0.5% peppermint powder (T 4 ) recorded the highest net profit (Rs. 19.51 per bird) among all.

Similar observations were reported by Abdel-Wareth et al.

(2019) [1] , who investigated peppermint leaves at 0, 5, 10 and 15 g/kg diet. Their economic analysis showed that dietary peppermint significantly improved net return and total benefit per group compared with the control treatment.

Conclusion

Under the conditions of the present experiment, supplementation of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) leaves powder at 0.5% resulted in the most favourable overall response in Sonali poultry birds. T 3 recorded the highest final body weight, highest gross return, highest net profit and highest B:C ratio.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementI am thankful to the Head of the Animal husbandry and Dairy Science section, College of Agriculture, Nagpur for providing all the necessary facilities for conducting the research work.