Effect of Portulaca oleracea Addition in Health Care Sand on Apparent Nutrient Digestibility, Serum Parameters, and Excreta Microbiota Metabolism in Tumbler Pigeons

TL;DR

Adding 1% Portulaca oleracea to health care sand improves digestion, antioxidants, and gut health in tumbler pigeons, enhancing their performance during flight training.

Contribution

This study introduces a natural plant additive that enhances metabolic and gut health in tumbler pigeons during high-intensity training.

Findings

1% Portulaca oleracea improved nutrient digestibility and antioxidant capacity in tumbler pigeons.

The additive increased beneficial gut bacteria like Actinobacteria and reduced harmful metabolites.

Serum lactate levels decreased, while antioxidant enzymes increased significantly in treated groups.

Abstract

This study demonstrates that adding health care sand with 1% Portulaca oleracea effectively enhances the metabolic performance of tumbler pigeons. The results show that this natural additive significantly improves nutrient utilization efficiency, boosts antioxidant capacity, and optimizes gut microbiota structure—particularly by promoting beneficial bacteria such as Actinobacteria. These comprehensive improvements work together to provide better metabolic support and anti-fatigue capacity during high-intensity flight training, offering a reliable nutritional foundation for enhanced athletic performance in tumbler pigeons.

Tumbling pigeons are prone to oxidative stress and disruption of gut microbiota balance during long-term exercise training and competitions. Considering that Portulaca oleracea (P. oleracea), as a natural plant feed additive, has natural antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and gut function improvement effects. This study investigates the effects of adding P. oleracea into health care sand on nutrient digestion and metabolism, serum parameters, and excreta microbiota metabolism in tumbler pigeons. Ninety 12-month-old tumbler pigeons were randomly assigned to three groups, with ten cages with three birds each. The CON Group received a basal diet added with 4 g of health care sand; Group TRT1 received a basal diet added with 4 g of health care sand containing 0.75% P. oleracea; and Group TRT2 received a basal diet added with 4 g of health care sand containing 1.00% Portulaca oleracea. The adaptation period lasted for 7 days, followed by a formal testing phase of 45 days. All tumbler pigeons received 1 h of flight training daily. The CON and TRT2 groups showed significantly increased dry matter (DM) apparent digestibility by 11.68% (p < 0.01) and 8.50% (p < 0.05), respectively, compared to the TRT1 group. The TRT2 group also demonstrated higher organic matter (OM) apparent digestibility (increase of 4.25%, p < 0.05) and markedly improved crude protein (CP) digestibility (16.72% higher than CON, p < 0.05; 27.12% higher than TRT1, p < 0.01). Both gross energy (GE) and metabolizable energy (ME) digestibility were significantly elevated in CON and TRT2 groups compared to TRT1 (p < 0.01). Compared to the CON group, the TRT2 group showed a 19.86% decrease in lactate (LAC) level (p < 0.05) alongside a 38.91% increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity (p < 0.05). Serum uric acid (UA) levels increased by 33.65–36.14% in both treatment groups (p < 0.05). Antioxidant capacity markedly improved, with malondialdehyde (MDA) decreasing by up to 27.75% (p < 0.01) and key antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) showing dose-dependent enhancements of up to 25.23% (p < 0.01). Other serum biochemical parameters showed no significant differences (p > 0.05). Microbial analysis demonstrated that Actinobacteriota, Acidothermaceae, and Nitrosotaleaceae were enriched in the TRT1 and TRT2 groups, while the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Chitinophagaceae decreased (p > 0.05). Metabolomic analysis revealed a significant increase in beneficial metabolites, including agmatine, pyropheophorbide-a, and N-acetylmuramate (p < 0.01). In conclusion, the addition of 1.00% Portulaca oleracea in health care sand effectively enhanced apparent nutrient digestibility, improved antioxidant capacity, and modulated the intestinal microbiota and metabolic profile of tumbler.

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