Effect of Artichoke Extract on Performance and some blood and anti-oxidant parameters of Sanjabi Lambs

Present study was designed to investigate the effect of Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus) extract on performance and some blood and anti-oxidantparameters of Sanjabi lambs. Eighteen Sanjabi lambs were randomly allocated to three experimental treatments with six replicates in each individualcage for 75 days. The experimental treatments were: 1) control group including basal diet without Artichoke extract, 2) basal diet plus 5 ml ofartichoke extract, and 3) basal diet plus 10 ml of artichoke extract per kilogram dry matter. The blood samples were collected from jugular vein oflambs before feeding at morning monthly. The concentration of glucose, cholesterol, total protein, urea, albumin, and the activity of glutathioneperoxidase, superoxide dismutase, alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase enzymes and malondialdehyde were measured. The results of thisexperiment showed that artichoke extract had no significant effect on lambs' performance and growth parameters, but significantly decreased bloodconcentration of cholesterol, triglyceride and malondialdehyde index at the level of 10 ml extract per Kg/DM of diet. The urea and cholesterolconcentrations affected by time and at days 40 of experiment, the amount of this parameters was lower than other times. In general, it can beconcluded that artichoke extract at the level of 10 ml extract had no significant effect on average daily gain and growth performance of lambs butimproved some blood parameters.