Effect of adding pomegranate peel powder to fat-containing diets on performance of broilers

In order to investigate antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of pomegranate peel powder (PPP), this research was conducted as completely randomized design arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment using pomegranate peel powder (0 and 2 percent) and soybean oil (SO, zero and six percent in growing period; zero and eight percent in finishing period). One hundred and sixty 11-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens assigned to four treatments of four replicate each. The results showed that PPP improved the antibody titer in 39-day broilers, increased fat digestibility, improved lactobacillus and decreased E coli micro flora in ileum and cecum significantly (P ≤ 0.05). The SO decreased DM digestibility and lactobacillus micro flora and E coli in ileum and cecum (P ≤ 0.05). As a conclusion adding PPP to the fat containing diets in comparison to control diets; without PPE and SO, improved antibody titer, beneficial gastric micro flora in ileum and cecum and had not any deleterious effect on overall broiler performance.