Jalal Bayati Zadeh, Nasroallah Moradi kor & Ali Olfati

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Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants
ISSN: 0972-060X (Print) 0976-5026 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/teop20
The Effects of Different Levels Aqueous Extract
of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) on
Performance and Immune Response of Laying
Hens
Jalal Bayati Zadeh, Nasroallah Moradi kor & Ali Olfati
To cite this article: Jalal Bayati Zadeh, Nasroallah Moradi kor & Ali Olfati (2015) The Effects of
Different Levels Aqueous Extract of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) on Performance
and Immune Response of Laying Hens, Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants, 18:6, 1476-1481,
DOI: 10.1080/0972060X.2014.981594
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0972060X.2014.981594
Published online: 17 Nov 2015.
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2. The Effects of Different Levels Aqueous Extract of Fenugreek (Trigonella
foenum-graecum L.) on Performance and Immune Response of Laying Hens
Jalal Bayati Zadeh 1
, Nasroallah Moradi kor 2
*, Ali Olfati 3
1
Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran
2
Research Center of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
3
Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Abstract: In order to gain a better understanding of their performance and immunity system of laying
hens, the present study was carried out to determine the effects of different levels aqueous extract of Fenugreek
(Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) on production performance and immune response of laying hens. A total
number of 240 white Lohman LSL-Lite laying hens at 65 weeks of age were used in this experiment. Four
levels of Fenugreek extract including zero (T1
), 5 ml (T2
), 10 ml (T3
) and 15 ml (T4
) per liter of drinking water
with 6 replicates (n=10) were used during 6-week trial period. The hens performance including hen-day egg
production %, feed intake, egg mass (g/hen/day), and feed conversion ratio (g feed: g egg) were measured.
Antibody production against sheep red blood cells also was measured. The GLM procedure of SAS software
was used for data analysis and differences among treatment means determined using the Duncan’s multiple-
range test. The findings of this study demonstrated that the inclusion of Fenugreek extract had a significant
effect on production performance of laying hens (P<0.05). In addition, Fenugreek extract to the drinking
water improved immune response of laying hens and a more positive effect was observed when 15 ml/l added
to the water. From the results of the present experiment it could be concluded that utilization of Fenugreek
extract to the drinking water were effective for improving the production performance and immune system of
laying hens.
Key words: Fenugreek, Immune system, Laying hen, Medicinal plant, Performance.
Introduction
Feed is a major component affecting net return
from the poultry business, because 80 % of total
expenditure in term of cash is spent on feed
purchase 1
. To ensure more net return and to
minimize high expenditure on feed are the main
challenges for which many research strategies
have been practiced such as introducing feed
supplements and additives 2
. The consumption and
demand for medicinal plants have been adopted
in many countries because of low cost, easy
availability,affordabilityforacommonfarmer,good
antimicrobial natured, reduced diseases associated
risks, lowering blood cholesterol level and
diversified functions in improving performance,
growth rate, feed conversion rate and weight gain
in birds 3
.Also recently studies, it has been found
that natural additives such as herbs and edible
plants have some properties as growth
performance enhancers to replace synthetic
drugs. These additives medical plants are given
to animals or birds to improve their physiological
ISSN Print: 0972-060X
ISSN Online: 0976-5026
*Corresponding authors (Nasroallah Moradi kor)
E-mail: < Moradikor@semums.ac.ir; moradikor.nasroallah@yahoo.com > © 2015, Har Krishan Bhalla & Sons
TEOP 18 (6) 2015 pp 1476 - 1481 1476
Received 29 May 2014; accepted in revised form 18 October 2014
Downloadedby[NasroallahMoradikor]at03:0328November2015

3. and productive performance under normal or
stress conditions. Bans and restrictions on the use
of animal antibiotic growth promoters stimulated
interest in bioactive secondary metabolites of plant
source as alternative per-formance enhancers 4
.
The antimicrobial effect of the medicinal plants is
well documented 5
. Antibiotic and other feed
additives are frequently given in feed as well as
in drinking water to achieve the targeted nutritional
and health status of the birds. The frequent use
of drugs as feed additives in poultry ration resulted
in resistant to pathogenic microorganism, affecting
the feed efficiency and growth performance of
poultry birds. Furthermore, scientists and
researchers are trying to combat against fatal
diseases in poultry through the use of medicinal
plants, containing the most active ingredients to
promote growth, weight gain, and
immunostimulant. Supplement used in this
experiment named Fenugreek (Trigonella
foenum-graecum L.) that was in liquid form that
added daily to water in different levels. Fenugreek
plant is widely distributed throughout the world
(especially in Iran) and which belongs to the family
Fabacecae. The plant including of active
constituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids,
Saponins etc. Furthermore, Fenugreek is known
to have hypoglycemic, and hypo-cholesterolaemic,
effects, anti inflammatory effects. Recent
research has identified Fenugreek as a valuable
medicinal plant with potential for curing diseases
and also as a source for preparing raw materials
of pharmaceutical industry, like in steroidal
hormones. Fenugreek has a high proportion of
protein (approximately 20-30 %), the fatty acids
ranged from 5-10 % which are predominantly
linoleic, linolenic, oleic and palmitic acids. It had
45-65 % total carbohydrates with 15 % of
galactomannan (a soluble fiber).Also, it contains
flavonoids, saponins and more calcium,
phosphorous, iron, zinc and manganese. Using
Fenugreek was reported to improve the productive
performance, health and immunity in poultry 6
.
Undoubtedly,productionperformanceandimmune
response are two of the most important factors
for the economics of poultry industry. Furthermore,
to date, reports evaluation the effect of Fenugreek
extract on performance and biochemical
metabolites composition of poultry are limited.
Therefore, the present study was conducted to
examine the effects of different levels of
Fenugreek extract adding to the drinking water
on performance and immune response of laying
hens.
Materials and methods
Location and experimental design
This experiment was carried out in the Rezvan
junior college agriiculture farm in Kerman
province (latitude 25o
55’ N, longitude 53o
26’
E,
altitude 1755 m) from June to September 2011.A
total number of 240 white Lohman LSL-Lite
laying hens at 65 weeks of age were used in this
experiment. Four levels of Fenugreek extract
including zero (T1), 5 ml (T2), 10 ml (T3) and
15ml (T4) per liter of drinking water with 6
replicates (n=10) were used during 6-week trial
period. Before start of the experiment, all hens
fed basal diet for 2 weeks and were similar in body
size and production. During the experiment, hens
fed approximately 120 (gr/day) and water was
offered ad-libitum. The hen’s performance
including hen-day egg production %, feed intake
and egg mass (g/hen/day) was measured. Feed
conversion ratio (FCR, g feed: g egg) was also
calculated as the ratio of gram of feed consumed
per gram of egg weight produced.At the 4th
week
of the experiment, 6 hens were randomly selected
from each group (1 from each replicate) and
injected with 0.2 ml of 9 % suspension of sheep
red blood cells (SRBC) in phosphate buffer saline.
One week after SRBC injection, 3 mL blood was
taken from selected hens using jugular veni-
puncture, and serum was separated and evaluated
for antibody titer. Haemagglutination inhibition
test was used for determining antibody titer sera.
Statistical analysis
The present experiment was based on a
completely randomized design. Data were
analyzed by ANOVA using GLM procedure of
SAS software 7
. Significance between means was
tested using Duncan’s multiple range tests. A
probability value of P < 0.05 indicated that the
difference was statistically signiûcant. Linear and
quadratic polynomial contrasts were used to
Jalal Bayati Zadeh et al., / TEOP 18 (6) 2015 1476 - 1481 1477
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4. evaluate the effect of different levels of Fenu-
greek extract.
Results
The effect of different levels of supplemental
Fenugreek extract to drinking water on egg
production and egg mass of laying hens are
presented in Table 1. The results showed that egg
production rate was higher in the T4
treatment
compared with other treatments (P<0.05). In
addition, egg mass was higher in the T4
treatment
compared with that of other treatments (P<0.05).
In conclusion, results this experiment demons-
trated that egg production and egg mass increased
with increasing the levels of Fenugreek extract
(Table 1).
The effects of different levels of supplemental
Fenugreek extract on feed intake and feed
conversion ratio of laying hens are shown in Table
2. The results indicated that inclusion of Fenu-
greek extract had a significant effect on feed
conversion ratio (P<0.05). In addition, inclusion
of Fenugreek extract had not significant effect
on feed intake (P>0.05). Feed intake was lower
in T4
treatment compared with other treatments.
Also, water supplementation with Fenugreek
extract significantly decreased feed conversion
ratio (P>0.05). However, feed conversion ratio
decrea-sed with increasing the levels of
Fenugreek extract.
The effects of different levels of supplemental
Fenugreek extract to drinking water on egg weight
and antibody titer against SRBC of laying hens
have been shown in Table 3. Results from this
Table 1. The effects of different levels Fenugreek extract
supplementation on egg production and egg mass of laying hens
Traits weeks Egg production (%) Egg mass (g egg/hen/day)
1-3 4-6 1-3 4-6
Treatments
T1
75.03±1.09c
77.39±1.22b
50.43±0.99b
47.35±1.02b
T2
77.42±1.23bc
78.53±0.88b
51.62±1.17b
50.27±1.47b
T3
79.31±0.78b
79.41±0.95b
52.53±1.02b
53.73±1.19a
T4
84.23±1.15a
85.65±1.03a
52.35±1.28b
55.57±1.38a
SEM 0.463 0.673 0.538 0.664
P-Values 0.038 0.028 0.131 0.031
Means (±SD) within a column showing different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)
Table 2. The effects of different levels Fenugreek extract supplementation
on feed intake and feed conversion ratio of laying hens
Traits weeks Feed intake (g Feed/hen/day) Feed conversion ratio (FCR)
1-3 4-6 1-3 4-6
Treatments
T1
117.53±1.32 116.53±1.02 2.02±0.75b
2.12±1.12b
T2
117.31±1.21 116.22±0.95 2.23±0.81b
2.02±1.62b
T3
117.62±1.19 117.38±1.53 2.08±0.92b
1.98±0.84a
T4
118.27±1.05 117.27±1.26 2.37±1.08b
1.83±1.23a
SEM 0.589 0.375 0.489 0.382
P-Value 0.163 0.212 0.069 0.039
Means (±SD) within a column showing different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)
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5. table represented that inclusion of Fenugreek
extract had a significant effect on egg weight and
antibody titer against SRBC (P<0.05). Egg weigh
was higher in T4
treatment compared with that of
other treatments. Egg weight increased with
increasing Fenugreek extract to drinking water.
The hens receiving the 15 ml/l Fenugreek extract
to drinking water had significantly higher titers of
total, IgM and IgG antibodie than that of other
treatments (P<0.05). The titer of total antibody,
IgM and IgG significantly increased with
increasing Fenugreek extract to drinking water.
Discussion
In this study we has been observed that inclusion
of Fenugreek extract to drinking water had a
significant effect on production performance of
laying hens (P<0.05). In addition, Fenugreek
extract to the drinking water improved immune
response of laying hens. Results of this experiment
were contrary with the finding of El–Kaiaty, et
al.,8
who demonstrated that the adding Fenugreek
in the diet from 0.5 up to 2 % had no effects on
egg production, egg weight and egg mass. El-
Kaiaty, et al.,8
reported that Fenugreek supple-
mentation at the level of 0.5 % had no significant
effect on feed consumption compared to the
control group. However, Abaza 10
indicated that
the same level (0.5 %) caused significant decrease
in feed consumption and improved the feed
conversion of laying hens. Also, EL-Mallah, et
al.,11
noted that increasing the level of Fenugreek
seeds to 2 % in diet of turkey chicks caused
significant increase in digestibility of NFE % and
this may be due to saponins content in Fenugreek
seeds that stimulate insulin activity. Results of
Abdalla, et al., 12
indicated that egg weight, egg
production and egg mass for the layers fed basal
diet supplemented with individual medicinal plants
(Fenugreek, cinnamon, fennel and anise or their
mixtures) were significantly increased than those
for control. These increments in above traits
especially egg production may be due to the
presence of vitamins and fat soluble unidentified
factors (a mixture of unsaturated fatty acids
including linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acids)
in herbs mixtures which have been considered as
essential for egg production. Some studies have
indicated that various plants extracts can improve
feed conversion ratio, increase carcass quality,
decrease the market age of broiler and reduced
their rearing cost 2
. Fenugreek (Trigonella
Foenum-Graecum L.), like other legumes, is a
good source of dietary protein (approximately 20-
30 %) for consumption by human and animals,
the fatty acids from 5-10 % which are predomi-
nantly linoleic, linolenic, oleic and palmatic acids.
It had 45-65 % total carbohydrates with 15 % of
galactomannan (a soluble fiber).
Abdalla, et al., 12
reported that the overall mean
results indicated that egg weigh for layers fed
basal diet supplemented with individual medicinal
plants or their mixtures were increased signi-
ficantly than those fed basal diet (control), that
these results are in line with results of this study.
Similar results for Fenugreek were obtained by
Table 3. The effects of different levels Fenugreek extract supplementation
on egg weight and antibody titer against SRBC of laying hens
Traits weeks Egg weigh (g) Antibody titer against SRBC
1-3 4-6 IgM IgG Total
Treatments
T1
55.48±1.05b
57.78±1.02b
2.01±1.31b
3.62±1.02b
2.37±1.24b
T2
59.62±1.86a
59.39±1.41ab
4.67±0.68ab
5.72±1.07b
3.23±0.88b
T3
60.17±0.89a
61.64±0.83a
6.25±1.49a
7.08±0.79a
6.69±1.09a
T4
61.37±1.28a
62.23±1.32a
7.33±1.08a
9.13±1.28a
7.34±1.18a
SEM 0.473 0.512 0.421 0.581 0.325
P-Value 0.043 0.019 0.023 0.031 0.014
Means (±SD) within a column showing different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)
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6. El-Kaiaty, et al., 8
. And also, Abaza 10
indicated
that Fenugreek supplementation increased egg
numbers and egg mass than those fed control diet.
Abdalla, et al.,12
reported that there were signi-
ficant increases of egg mass and egg production
overall means for hens fed basal diets supple-
mented with different experimental medicinal
plants or their mixtures compared with those for
control. Improvement of egg production may be
due to the mode of action of herbs or their mixtures
in bird utilization of ingredients as reported by
Oktay, et al., 13
and Satyanarayana, et al., 14
. Our
results are in agreement with the results of Murray,
et al., 15
who reported that a significant increase
in egg production may be due to the presence of
vitamins and fat soluble unidentified factors (a
mixture of unsaturated fatty acids including
linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acids) in herbs
mixture which have been determined as essential
for egg production.Abdalla, et al., 12
reported that
the supplementation layer diet with different
medicinal plants or their mixtures at different
levels has no significant effect on the amount of
feed intake through all experimental periods.
Results regarding of Fenugreek are compatible
with the finding of El-Kaiaty, et al.8
who indicated
that there were no effects of supplemented
Fenugreek on feed consumption for laying hens
and broilers.
Feed conversion ratios were significantly
(P<0.05) improved for all hen groups fed the
Fenugreek extract compared with those fed
control group through experimental periods. Layer
group (T4) fed the highest level of Fenu-greek
extract (15 ml/l) realized the best FCR during the
experimental periods (6 wks) compared with the
other treatments groups. Moreover, overall means
of FCR for all layer groups fed different levels of
Fenugreek extract were significantly (P<0.05)
improved compared with those for control group.
Similar patterns were also observed by Mona and
Amany 9
and Abaza 10
. El-Shayeb and Mabrouk
16
reported that Fenugreek can inhibit 85-90 % of
aflatoxins formation which leads to improving feed
conversion ratio improve-ment. The improvement
in egg production and FCR for layers fed diets
containing individual medicinal plants or their
mixtures in layer diets would suggest potential
beneficial effects of these additives on gastro-
intestinal tract microorganisms. Bhatti, et al., 17
revealed that Fenugreek has antibacterial activity
due to flavonoids content which improves the
balance of the intestinal flora and metabolites.
Moreover, herbs mixture improved the utilization
of feed by increasing the activity of phosphates
which act as transferring phosphate groups from
one system to another in the form of an energy
rich phosphate bond 18
. Mazur, et al., 19
demons-
trated that the presence of phytoestrogens in
Fenugreek may have a great value because of its
antifungal and antioxidant activities. Also, the
positive response of Fenu-greek on FCR may be
due to the effective role of trigonelline content of
the essential oil in Fenugreek and it has anti
carcinogenic, antiviral, and antifungal and
antioxidant activities.Antibody production against
SRBC in laying hens that fed high level of
Fenugreek extract supple-mentation was greater
than that of the other treatment (p<0.05). Serol-
ogical data from the present study showed that
the effectiveness of Fenugreek extract supple-
mentation on systemic immunity.
Conclusion
The present investigation suggested that supple-
mental Fenugreek extract to drinking water at a
level of 15 ml/l can improve production perfor-
mance and immune responses of laying hens.
Thus, supplementations of Fenugreek extract at
levels above recommended as nutritional require-
ments for improve humoral and cellular immunity.
In addition, improving performance and immune
responses of laying hens by Fenugreek extract
supplementation is relatively a novelty result, so
the more effect of Fenugreek extract could be
the subject of further investigations.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to staff of aviculture
laying hens for their useful and kind helps. Also
we would like to have a special thank to the
director of the Rezvan junior college for providing
a friendly environment and research facilities.
Conflict of interest
There was no conflict of interest in this experi-
mental study.
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