Effect of dietary Coriander seed (Coriandrum sativum L.) and α-tocopheryle acetate supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens

A trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Coriander seed (CS) and α-tocopheryl acetate on growth performance, small intestinal morphology and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens from 1 to 42 days of age .Two hundred forty one-old day chicks (Cobb 500) were randomly assigned to four treatments arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates and 20 chicks per replicate. Dietary treatments included a negative control (NC) (maize-soybean diet without food additive), positive control (PC) (basal diet with 250 mg of α-tocopheryl acetate/kg), the third and fourth experimental groups basal diet were supplemented with 0.3 or 0.6 percent of CS/kg. According to the results, chickens were fed CS in comparison with control groups has not significant differences in average daily gain, feed intake and FCR. Crypt depth and surface area in absorptive villi segment in chicken fed with 0.6% CS significantly increased compared to NC group (0.22±0.011 and 0.66±0.009 versus 0.21±0.004 and 0.60±0.012 mm and mm2, respectively). Dietary supplementation of 0.6% CS significantly increased the digestibility of protein (3.99%) and fat (4.33%) compared to NC treatment. In conclusion, using of CS at the level of 0.6% in the diet of broiler chickens could be advisable due to its positive effects on dietary fat digestibility, growth performance and small intestinal morphology.