Effect of Ashwagandha root powder supplementation on thigh and breast muscle parameters of broiler chicken

To study the effect of dietary supplementation of Ashwagandha root powder on muscle parameters of broiler chicken, a total of 300, one day-old commercial broiler chicks were randomly distributed into six dietary treatments with five replicates per treatment and each replicate has ten birds. Feeding trial was conducted for 42 days in two different growth phases i.e. starter (0-28d) and finisher (29-42d). The control group (T1) was offered maize- soybean meal based diet which was formulated as per specifications to fulfill the metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein requirements of broilers. The first group was kept as a control (T1) and given the basal diet without antibiotic while second (T2) basal diet with antibiotic, third (T3), fourth (T4), fifth (T5) and sixth (T6) groups were supplemented with Ashwagandha root powder @ 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1%, respectively in the diet. At end of feeding trial (6 weeks), one bird from each replicate was selected and slaughtered. Samples of breast and thigh muscles were weighed and taken for analysis of moisture, protein and ether extract as per AOAC (2013). Highest thigh muscle weight percentage was observed in T6 (10.26%) followed by T5 (10.21%) and was significantly (P< 0.05) higher than control (9.70%) group. Breast muscle weight percentage ranged from 26.13% (T1) to 28.29% (T5) under different dietary treatments and significantly (P< 0.05) higher breast percentage was found in 0.75% Ashwagandha supplemented groups as compared to control and antibiotic supplemented group. Percent crude protein of thigh muscle and breast muscle was significantly (P< 0.05) higher in 0.75% and 1.0% Ashwagandha supplemented group as compared to control (T1) and antibiotic (T2) supplemented group. There was a significant (P< 0.05) decrease in ether extract percentage of thigh and breast muscle in T4, T5 and T6 groups as compared to control group (T1). Thus, supplementation of Ashwagandha root powder resulted in increased weight of thigh muscle and breast muscle, crude protein percentage, whereas ether extract in thigh and breast muscle was found decreased as compared to control.