Effects of dietary supplementation of castor aralia (Kalopanax pictus nakai) on performance and fatty acid composition of chicken meat

The effects of dietary supplementation with Kalopanax pictus branch, leaves, and extracts on performance, proximate composition, pH, total phenol and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, cholesterol and fatty acid composition of chicken meat. Broiler chicks were fed for 5 weeks with a diet containing 5% Kalopanax pictus branch (T1), 2% Kalopanax pictus leaves (T2), and 5% Kalopanax pictus extracts (60% leaves + 40% branch) (T3). T1 and T3 resulted in much better feed conversion than T2. In proximate composition, crude fat of chicken meat was increased, but not significantly (p>0.05) in Kalopanax pictus-supplemented diets than control diet. Total phenol contents and DPPH radical scavenging activity were significantly increased (p< 0.05) by the dietary-supplementation with Kalopanax pictus branch and leaves compared to the control diet. Total and high density lipoprotein cholesterols of treatment groups were higher than the control group, and control group low density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher than treatment groups (p< 0.05). Especially, T3 was significantly (p< 0.05) more effective in improving cholesterol compared to other treatment groups. The treatment groups (especially T3) showed significantly higher total fatty acid and unsaturated fatty acid compositions compare to the control group.