Impact of Turmeric Curcuma longa on the Body Weight and Liver Function of Japanese Quails Exposed to Dietary Aflatoxins

The contamination of poultry feed with Aflatoxins (AF) is important in terms of economic damage to the poultry industry and public health. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of Turmeric Powder (TP), containing 2.96% of Total Curcuminoids (TCM) on reducing the adverse effects of dietary AF in Japanese quails.

180 male Japanese quails aged 22-55 days were divided into six groups, and were fed basic diet (group 1, controls), or basic diet contaminated with 4 mg/kg AF and/or TP doses as follows: 3 g/kg TP (group 2), 5 g/kg TP (group 3), 4 mg/kg AF (group 4), 4 mg/kg AF and 3 g/kg TP (group 5) or 4 mg/kg AF and 5 g/kg TP (group 6).

Adding TP to the quails diet that contained AF improved the liver antioxidant status, reduced Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, increased the serum SOD and CAT enzyme levels and improved the total antioxidant capacity (P<0.05). The addition of TP significantly reduced the adverse effects of AF on body weight loss, relative liver weight gain, decreased serum total protein, and increased the AST, ALT and ALP enzyme activities. It also reduced the severity of liver histological pathologies, such as fatty changes, biliary duct proliferation, periportal fibrosis, hyperemia, and leukocyte infiltration.

The effect of TP on reducing the adverse effects of dietary AF may be attributed to its antioxidant properties. The AF-contaminated diet containing 5 g/kg TP (148 mg/kg TCM) was more effective in reducing the AF complications in the quails compared to 3 g/kg of TP (88.8 mg/kg TCM).