The effects of mesquite feeding on performance, carcass, immunity, blood and antioxidant parameters in broilers

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Published: May 20, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/jhvms.42652
Keywords:
antioxidant broiler chicken prosopis farcta growth
SA Pourseyedin
Department of Animal Science, Ra.C., Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
A Seidavi
Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht 41335-3516, Iran
M Bouyeh
Department of Animal Science, Ra.C., Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
M Nosrati
Department of Animal Science, Ra.C., Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different levels of mesquite fruit powder (Prosopis farcta) on performance indicators, carcass characteristics, immune system, biochemical parameters and blood antioxidant status in broiler chickens. First, the analysis of the constituent components was performed in the laboratory. Totally, 160 broiler chickens of the Ross 308 strain were studied in a completely randomized design with four dietary treatments including basal diet (control) and diets containing 1, 2 and 3% mesquite powder. Each treatment consisted of four replications and each replication consisted of 10 birds. The 42-day rearing period was divided into three starter, grower and finisher periods under standard management and appropriate to the welfare of the flock. The results of this study showed that the addition of mesquite powder did not have any negative effects on feed intake, body weight and feed conversion ratio (FCR) during the rearing period. Results of blood parameters, significant decrease in blood glucose concentration and significant increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels were obtained in the mesquite-fed treatments (P<0.01). Also, liver enzyme activity was linearly and significantly decreased (P=0.01). Although carcass weight and internal organs were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments, numerical improvements in carcass quality traits including breast and thigh weight were evident in the mesquite-fed treatments. On the other hand, no significant effect was observed on immune responses including antibody titer against SRBC and the weight of immune organs including spleen, bursa of Fabricius and pancreas. Overall, the findings of this study showed that the use of mesquite powder up to 3% in the diet of broiler chickens can lead to non-significant improvement in growth performance, lipid profile modification and blood antioxidant status, without adverse effects on general health, immune responses and carcass quality of birds. These results indicate the potential of mesquite as a natural and safe additive in broiler poultry nutrition.

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