The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis
A growing body of literature examined the effects of including plant extracts in poultry diets. Most of these studies have focused on changes in growth performance (weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, etc.) resulting from dietary inclusion of plant extracts. The effects of plant nutrace...
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| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Italian Journal of Animal Science |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2491754 |
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| author | Zafar Hayat Marij Tuba Riaz |
| author_facet | Zafar Hayat Marij Tuba Riaz |
| author_sort | Zafar Hayat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A growing body of literature examined the effects of including plant extracts in poultry diets. Most of these studies have focused on changes in growth performance (weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, etc.) resulting from dietary inclusion of plant extracts. The effects of plant nutraceutical extract on broiler chickens have been reported with different results. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to gauge the effect of plant nutraceutical extract on broiler chickens’ growth, intestinal components and blood characteristics. Two publicly available databases were searched to find studies evaluating dietary plant nutraceutical extracts on broiler chickens. The study selection was based on predefined criteria and two publicly available databases, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, were utilised for execution. The analysis comprised 24 studies involving 60 treatment groups eligible for analysis in RevMan software. The results showed that plant nutraceutical extract inclusion significantly reduced feed conversion ratio (p < .05), leading to improved production performance. The pathogenic gut microbiota was also influenced by a significant reduction in Salmonella and Escherichia coli counts (p < .05) in the broilers. Plant nutraceutical-based diets also significantly increased the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria (p < .01) in broiler chickens. In addition, blood characteristics had significantly higher haemoglobin and globulin or total cholesterol, whereas triglycerides had a significantly lower impact than the control group. Consequently, plant extracts have the potential to serve as natural alternatives to antibiotics to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance and support sustainable poultry production. However, application of latest technologies is required to attain its full potential. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-f5c86ae5aba7481c829ec66378a72efd |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1828-051X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Italian Journal of Animal Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-f5c86ae5aba7481c829ec66378a72efd2025-08-20T02:30:43ZengTaylor & Francis GroupItalian Journal of Animal Science1828-051X2025-12-012411028104510.1080/1828051X.2025.24917542491754The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysisZafar Hayat0Marij1Tuba Riaz2UOS-IDRC Project, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, University of SargodhaUOS-IDRC Project, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, University of SargodhaUOS-IDRC Project, Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture, University of SargodhaA growing body of literature examined the effects of including plant extracts in poultry diets. Most of these studies have focused on changes in growth performance (weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, etc.) resulting from dietary inclusion of plant extracts. The effects of plant nutraceutical extract on broiler chickens have been reported with different results. Thus, this meta-analysis aimed to gauge the effect of plant nutraceutical extract on broiler chickens’ growth, intestinal components and blood characteristics. Two publicly available databases were searched to find studies evaluating dietary plant nutraceutical extracts on broiler chickens. The study selection was based on predefined criteria and two publicly available databases, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, were utilised for execution. The analysis comprised 24 studies involving 60 treatment groups eligible for analysis in RevMan software. The results showed that plant nutraceutical extract inclusion significantly reduced feed conversion ratio (p < .05), leading to improved production performance. The pathogenic gut microbiota was also influenced by a significant reduction in Salmonella and Escherichia coli counts (p < .05) in the broilers. Plant nutraceutical-based diets also significantly increased the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria (p < .01) in broiler chickens. In addition, blood characteristics had significantly higher haemoglobin and globulin or total cholesterol, whereas triglycerides had a significantly lower impact than the control group. Consequently, plant extracts have the potential to serve as natural alternatives to antibiotics to reduce the risk of antimicrobial resistance and support sustainable poultry production. However, application of latest technologies is required to attain its full potential.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2491754plant extractsnutraceuticalsgrowth performancegut microbiotabroilers |
| spellingShingle | Zafar Hayat Marij Tuba Riaz The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis Italian Journal of Animal Science plant extracts nutraceuticals growth performance gut microbiota broilers |
| title | The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis |
| title_full | The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis |
| title_fullStr | The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis |
| title_short | The dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance, gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers: a meta-analysis |
| title_sort | dietary inclusion of plant extracts improves growth performance gut microbiota and blood parameters of broilers a meta analysis |
| topic | plant extracts nutraceuticals growth performance gut microbiota broilers |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2491754 |
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