Effects of dietary supplementation of fermented Artemisia argyi on growth performance, slaughter performance, and meat quality in broilers.

Artemisia argyi (AA) is promising as a potential feed additive. Microbial fermentation is beneficial to the degradation of cell walls and the better release of bioactive compounds of AA. However, there are few reports on the application of fermented AA as a feed additive for broilers. The present study intended to evaluate the application value of fermented AA as a feed additive for broilers by examining the effects of the dietary supplementation of Aspergillus niger-fermented AA and unfermented AA on growth performance, slaughter performance, and meat quality of brokers. A total of 360 newly hatched (1-day-old) broilers with similar body weight were randomly divided into the following 5 groups: basal diet group as control (C) group, basal diet +3% unfermented AA (E1) group, basal diet + 1% fermented AA (E2) group, basal diet + 3% fermented AA (E3) group, basal diet + 5% fermented AA (E4) group. Each group included 6 replicates with 12 broilers per replicate, and the feeding trail lasted for 48 d. Body weight and feed intake were recorded every 2 wk, and the feed gain ratio was calculated to assess growth performance. At 42 d, 6 broilers from each group were slaughtered, and the carcass traits were calculated. The results showed that compared with the control group, Aspergillus Niger could effectively destroy AA fiber, which contributed to better release of AA bioactive compounds. Moreover, dietary supplementation with AA could improve the growth performance of broilers (P < 0.05), and the effect of fermented AA was better than unfermented AA, especially 3% fermented AA. From 28 to 42 d, compared with the control group, the average daily gain of broilers in the group supplementation with 3% fermented AA was significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the feed-to-gain ratio was decreased (P < 0.05). At 42 d, the dressing percentage, half-eviscerated carcass percentage, eviscerated carcass percentage, and breast muscle percentage of broilers in the groups of 1, 3, and 5% fermented AA diets were significantly improved (P < 0.05), and the thigh muscle percentage of broilers in the group with 3% fermented AA diets was significantly improved (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the meat quality of broilers in the group with fermented AA diets was also significantly improved. Birds in AA groups had higher a* value and lower shear force of breast muscle, especially the group supplementation with 3% fermented AA (P < 0.05). In conclusion, fermented AA has good application value as a potential feed additive for broilers, dietary supplementation of fermented AA can improve the production performance and meat quality of broiler chickens, of which 3% fermented AA is more effective.