Biomedical Letters

Phytomedicine (Allium cepa L.) effect on broiler immunity against infectious diseases

Sajid ur Rahman 1, Sarzamin Khan 1, Naila Imtiaz 1, Umar Siddique 2, Asad Sultan 1, Fazal Rahim 3, Fawad ur Rahman 4*

1 Department of Poultry Science, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan

2 Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan

3 Pathology Department Khyber Girls Medical College KMU Peshawar, Pakistan

4 Henan-Macquarie International joint center for Biomedical Innovations, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Jin Ming Avenue, Kaifeng, P. R. China

Abstract

The extensive use of antibiotics in poultry has led to severe health concerns for human utility and accounted for multidrug resistance. The phytochemicals and probiotics are highly preferred as an alternative to antibiotics supplementation in the poultry feed. In this contribution, we supplemented commercial broiler feed with Allium cepa L. (Onion) powder at various concentrations. The dietary supplementation of Allium cepa L. exerted a significant positive effect (p < 0.05) on antibodies titer against Newcastle Disease (ND) virus, Infectious Bronchitis (IB), and Infectious Bursal Disease (IBD) antibodies titer in all treated groups. The serum proteins were increased significantly (p < 0.05) in treatment groups. The Allium cepa L. also revealed a significant lowering effect (p < 0.05) on the liver function enzymes, i.e., Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) and Alkaline Phosphates (ALP). We could not find any significant effect on lymphoid organs (i.e., thymus, spleen, and bursa of Fabricius) after supplementation of onion in the feed. In conclusion, Allium cepa L. supplementations in broiler revealed a positive effect on performance in terms of immunity and liver functionality.