Effect of different forms of garlic (Allium sativum) on carcass traits, sensory quality, serum lipid profile and economics of Grampriya breed of poultry

Introduction

Garlic is widely investigated as a phytogenic feed additive because of its sulphur-containing bioactive compounds and reported antimicrobial, antioxidant and hypolipidemic activities. Dietary garlic has been associated with changes in growth, carcass yield, meat quality and blood biochemical parameters, but the response may vary with processing and inclusion level. Fadalla et al. (2010) [2] reported improved carcass yield with garlic supplementation, while Karangiya et al. (2016) [4] and Singh et al. (2024) [15] reported beneficial effects of garlic-containing diets on carcass and cut-up parts. Processing can alter the composition and sensory characteristics of garlic. Fresh garlic retains native alliin and alliinase, whereas drying and fermentation alter the profile of sulphur compounds. Earlier studies have also reported reductions in serum or muscle cholesterol following garlic supplementation (Bamidele and Adejumo, 2012; Majdi et al., 2022; Sewatkar et al., 2024) [1,7,14] . At the same time, economic response depends not only on biological performance but also on the cost of the additive and its inclusion level (Safa et al., 2014; Makwana et al., 2015) [6,12] . Therefore, the present study compared fresh garlic, garlic powder, black garlic powder and their combination with respect to carcass, sensory, serum lipid and economic responses in Grampriya poultry.

of garlic (Allium sativum). A total of 200 commercial straight-run, day-old Grampriya chicks were obtained from Parvati Hatcheries, Georai, District Beed. On arrival, the chicks were individually weighed, wing-banded for identification, and randomly distributed into five dietary treatment groups on the basis of comparable initial body weight. Each treatment consisted of 40 birds, further divided into four replicates of 10 birds each, following a Completely Randomised Design (CRD). The experimental treatments consisted of T 1: standard basal ration without garlic supplementation (control); T 2: basal ration supplemented with 3 per cent fresh garlic; T 3: basal ration supplemented with 3 per cent garlic powder; T 4: basal ration supplemented with 3 per cent black garlic powder; and T 5: basal ration supplemented with 1 per cent each of fresh garlic, garlic powder and black garlic powder. The birds were reared under deep-litter housing conditions in a well-ventilated poultry shed for a period of 10 weeks. Throughout the experimental period, all birds were maintained under uniform conditions with respect to brooding, lighting, vaccination and other management practices. Commercial pre-starter, starter and finisher rations were provided during the respective age periods of 2-10, 11-24 and 25-72 days. Feed and clean drinking water were supplied in measured quantities, and the remaining feed and water were recorded to calculate the actual intake of the birds. Weekly live body weight and weight gain were recorded up to 10 weeks. Weekly feed and water consumption were recorded and expressed as g/bird/week and ml/bird/week, respectively. Feed conversion ratio was calculated as feed cosumed divided by weekly body-weight gain. The observations were subjected to analysis of variance appropriate to a Completely Randomised Design, and treatment means were compared using the critical difference (CD) at the 5 per cent level of significance following Snedecor and Cochran (1994).

Additional observations and analytical procedures

At the end of the 10-week experiment, two birds from each treatment having live weight representative of the treatment mean were selected, starved for 12-14 hours and slaughtered for carcass evaluation. Live weight, weight after deblooding, dressed weight, dressing percentage and yields of thigh, wing, drumstick, breast, giblet, neck, percentage were recorded. For sensory evaluation, cooked meat samples were assessed by a trained panel using a nine-point descriptive scale for appearance and colour, tenderness, flavour, juiciness, texture and overall acceptability. Blood samples collected at slaughter were allowed to clot and centrifuged to obtain serum. Total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol were estimated using the procedures described in the experimental methods; LDLcholesterol was calculated by the Friedewald equation and VLDL-cholesterol as triglycerides divided by five. Economics of production included the cost of chicks, feed, garlic/additives, medicine, vaccination, litter and other stated inputs. Net profit per bird was calculated as selling price minus total cost of production.

Results and Discussion 1. Carcass traits Carcass performance generally followed the pattern of live body weight. T 3 recorded the highest live body weight (1434.39 g), weight after de-blooding (1371.59 g), dressed weight (1011.24 g) and dressing percentage (70.50%). T 3 also recorded the highest numerical yields of drumstick (15.48%), breast (23.90%), giblet (6.80%) and neck (4.50%), while T 2 had the lowest dressing percentage (67.20%). The higher carcass yield associated with garlic powder agrees with [2,4,15] , who reported improved carcass or cut-up yields with phytogenic supplementation. The results also indicate that combining the three forms at 1 per cent each did not provide an additive carcass benefit.

Sensory evaluation

The sensory panel consistently preferred meat from T 3 . Garlic powder recorded the highest scores for appearance and colour (8.25), flavour (8.13), juiciness (8.13), texture (8.13) and overall acceptability (8.13). T 4 recorded the highest tenderness score (7.75), whereas T 2 had the lowest appearance and colour score (6.00). Statistical differences were significant only for appearance and colour; differences in tenderness, flavour, juiciness, texture and overall acceptability did not exceed the respective critical differences. The better sensory performance of garlic powder is consistent with Kim et al. (2009) [5] , while the relatively lower scores of fresh garlic may reflect the stronger characteristic odour and pungency of the unprocessed form. [1,7,14] , who reported reductions in cholesterol and related lipid fractions following garlic supplementation. In the present experiment, however, garlic powder and black garlic powder did not show the same hypolipidemic response, indicating that processing form can materially influence the biological effect of the additive. [4,6,12] .

Conclusion

Garlic powder at 3 per cent was the most effective treatment for carcass yield and sensory quality, with the highest dressed weight, dressing percentage and favourable organoleptic scores. Fresh garlic at 3 per cent produced the most favourable serum lipid profile, particularly for total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol and LDL:HDL ratio. However, under the prevailing input prices, the control ration returned the highest net profit, followed by fresh garlic and garlic powder. Black garlic powder and the three-way combination were economically inferior because their higher additive costs were not compensated by sufficient biological gains. Thus, the appropriate garlic form should be selected according to the production objective: garlic powder for carcass and eating quality, fresh garlic for lipid-related objectives, and careful cost consideration for commercial adoption.

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