Growth, Carcass Traits, Blood Hematology, Serum Metabolites, Immunity, and Oxidative Indices of Growing Rabbits Fed Diets Supplemented with Red or Black Pepper Oils

SIMPLE SUMMARY: After the ban on antibiotics as growth promoters in poultry and animal diets, nutritionists had to find safe and efficient alternatives. Because of their beneficial properties, the oils of red and black pepper were chosen to be supplemented to rabbit diets. Promising results were obtained with regard to the ability of these oils to improve rabbits’ growth performance, immunity, and antioxidant status. ABSTRACT: The present study aimed to examine the impacts of the supplementation of red or black pepper oils to rabbit diet as growth promoters on New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits. One hundred and forty weaned NZW rabbits were divided randomly into seven groups in a completely randomized experiment using different quantities of red pepper oil (RPO; 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 g/kg diet) or black pepper oil (BPO; 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 g/kg diet), in addition to the control group. Compared to the control, values of live body weight (LBW) for rabbits fed either RPO or BPO enriched diets were greater. The concentrations of serum triglycerides and cholesterol were lower (p < 0.01) in the RPO- and BPO-treated groups than in the control. Immunity parameters and antioxidant indices were improved in treated groups in comparison to the control. Dietary RPO or BPO can affect some growth traits, improve immunity parameters and the antioxidant activity, and decrease the lipid profile and lipid peroxidation. The use of 0.5 g RPO/kg diet as a dietary supplement had a larger effect on growth parameters than the other treatment groups.