Nutrigenomic evaluation of garlic (Allium sativum) and holy basil (Ocimum sanctum) leaf powder supplementation on growth performance and immune characteristics in broilers

AIM: In this study, a planned research work was conducted to investigate the nutrigenomic aspects of supplementation of Allium sativum (garlic) and Ocimum sanctum (holy basil) leaf powder on the growth performance and immune characteristics of broilers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 6 weeks feeding trial was conducted with 280-day-old Ven Cobb broilers, distributed randomly into seven experimental groups. Each treatment had 4 replicates with 10 birds each. The birds of the control group (T(1)) were fed a basal diet formulated as per BIS standards. The broilers of treatment groups T(2) and T(3) were fed basal diet supplemented with the commercially available garlic powder (GP) at levels of 0.5% and 1.0% of the feed, respectively, while broilers in T(4) and T(5) were fed basal diet supplemented with commercial grade holy basil leaf powder (HBLP) at levels 0.5% and 1.0% of the feed, respectively. Birds in the T(6) were fed with 0.5% GP and 0.5% HBLP, whereas T(7) was fed with 1.0% GP and 1.0% HBLP. At the end of the feeding trial (6(th) week), blood samples were collected and analyzed for relative mRNA expression of toll-like receptors (TLR) 2, TLR 4 and TLR 7 using real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The mean body weight gain and feed conversion efficiency were improved (p<0.05) in broilers fed the GP and HBLP incorporated diets compared with the control group. The relative mRNA expression levels of TLR 2, TLR 4 and TLR 7 in the peripheral blood of the broilers were found to be increased (p<0.05) in the birds supplemented with graded levels of the GP and HBLP as compared to the untreated group. CONCLUSION: The present work concludes that the inclusion of GP and HBLP could enhance the production performance and immune status of birds by augmenting the T-cell mediated immune response and thereby protects them from disease without decreasing growth traits as a possible substitution to conventional antimicrobials.