# Mechanistic Insights into the Physiological and Meat Quality Responses of Broiler Chickens Fed Incremental Turmeric Rhizome Meal

## TL;DR

Adding turmeric root powder to chicken feed improves growth, immunity, and meat quality, offering a natural alternative to antibiotics.

## Contribution

This study provides mechanistic insights into how turmeric rhizome meal improves poultry health and meat quality.

## Key findings

- Turmeric-fed chickens showed better feed efficiency and stronger immune responses.
- Meat from turmeric-fed chickens had less fat damage and more beneficial nutrients.
- Turmeric increased good gut bacteria and improved nutrient transport in chickens.

## Abstract

Raising chickens without antibiotics is a major challenge for farmers, as antibiotics are often used to promote growth and prevent disease. However, indiscriminate antibiotic usage leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This study investigated whether adding turmeric root powder to chicken feed could be a safe and effective natural alternative. We fed varying small amounts of turmeric root powder to broiler chickens and measured its effects on their performance, physiology, and meat quality. We found that chickens fed turmeric root powder had better feed efficiency, stronger immune systems, and guts with more good bacteria. The meat from these chickens also had less fat damage and contained more beneficial nutrients. We conclude that supplementing turmeric root powder in poultry diets can help farmers raise healthier birds without antibiotics, ultimately providing consumers with a higher quality and safer meat.

Natural products, such as turmeric rhizome meal (TRM), may hold the key to a sustainable solution to antimicrobial resistance rise and antibiotic prohibition in food-producing animals. This study evaluated the effects of dietary TRM at 0 (CON), 0.3 (TRM3), 0.6 (TRM6), and 0.9 g/kg (TRM9) on growth, nutrient digestibility, immunity, gut function, nutrient transport biomarkers, microbiome, and meat quality in 280 one-day-old male Ross 308 chicks over a 42-day feeding trial. Birds fed TRM indicated higher body weight gain and lower feed conversion ratio (p < 0.05). The TRM groups promoted higher (p = 0.001) serum immunoglobulin Y, immunoglobulin M, and interleukin-10 compared to the CON. Birds fed CON had higher interleukin-2 (p = 0.025), interleukin-6 (p = 0.027), and TNF-α (p = 0.008) levels compared to the TRM groups. Lactobacillus counts in jejunal villi and crypts were higher in the TRM groups than in the CON (p < 0.05). Dietary TRM increased electrogenic glucose and lysine transport, accompanied by up-regulation of claudin-5, zonula occludens 1, and mucin-2 expression (p < 0.05). In breast muscle, TRM fortification reduced malondialdehyde levels (p < 0.05) while increasing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (p < 0.05). Thus, TRM is a potent, residue-free phytobiotic alternative to conventional antibiotic growth promoters in poultry systems.