The effects of aqueous extract of onion on performance and some blood biochemical parameters of the Cobb and Ross broilers

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of onion extract on growth performance, carcass characteristics and some blood metabolites in Ross and Cobb broiler chickens. One hundred sixty, 1-d-old broiler chickens (mean initial weight: 36.5 ± 1 g) of male sex (Ross-308 and Cobb) were randomly conducted as randomized complete design with 4 treatment and 4 replication. The experimental groups included two treatments for Ross strain – control (RC) and the group receiving basal diet + onion extract as 1 % in drink water *Corresponding author: Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Boroujerd Branch, Islamic Azad University, Boroujerd, Iran. © 2015 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non CommercialNo Derives License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. Received 12 November 2015 Accepted 13 December 2015 Available online 19 December 2015 iThenticate screening 16 November 2015 English editing 11 December 2015 Quality control 15 December 2015 M. Farahani et al. / International journal of Advanced Biological and Biomedical Research (2015) 3(4) 370-377 371 (RO) and two treatments for Cobb strain –control (CC) and the group receiving basal diet + onion extract as 1 % in drink water (CO). The chickens received food and water freely for 6 weeks. The performance parameters were measured during the experimental period. Blood samplings were performed for determine of blood parameters on 42 days of age. The results showed that use of onion extract lead to significant increase (p<0.05) of yield traits in both strain. Maximum daily weight gain (49.97 g), body weight (2135.94 g), and the lowest feed conversion ratio (1.82) were related to RO group. The using of onion extract resulted in decreasing of triglyceride and glucose and increasing of HDL of blood serum in both strain. In general, the results of this experiment showed that onion extract at the level of 1% in drink water can improve the functional and some blood parameters in Ross and Cobb broiler chickens. © 2015 Published by CASRP publishing company Ltd. UK. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Center of Advanced Scientific Research and Publications Ltd. UK.