Effect of Artemisia annua on performance, carcass characteristics and oxidative stability of Japanese quail meat

Introduction: Nowadays, acceptance of chicken meat as a healthy cheap meat resulted in massive consumption between consumers; consequently, higher production with higher quality and shelf life is of the main future goals of this industry (Morrissey et al. 1994). Poultry products and processing technology have become widely available and used worldwide, which leads to expanding competition in the meat production sector. Thus, success in poultry production is strongly associated with improvement in carcass growth and yield. It is mainly associated with an increase in the proportion of breast meat and a decrease in abdominal fat. While, high poly-unsaturated fatty acid content of the meat, make chicken meat prone to deteriorate during storage. So, any suggestion to achieve the industry targets including better growth performance, higher immunity condition, efficient gut function and higher meat quality is valuable. Antioxidants and antimicrobial agents are of feed additives for broiler diets that can enhance bird health and consequently can enhance food safety and quality (Cherian et al. 2013). But, because of international limitations on most antibiotic feed additives and global consumer concerns on the use of such additives, the poultry industry is looking for new alternatives with antimicrobial activities (Cherian et al. 2013). Efficacious, environmentally friendly and consumer favorable feed additives are necessary to poultry meat production. Many researches have been started on these alternatives and some of these alternatives include ionophores, prebiotics, synbiotics, acidifiers, organic acids, and nowadays medicinal plants and phytogenic. Recently, herbs or plant extracts with antioxidant capacity have received much attention. Also, the global demand for natural products from the poultry industry is rising. So, the industry has faced with popularity of using plant-based feed additives or phytogenics. Natural antioxidant compounds exist in these feed additives, can enhance lipid oxidative stability that results in better meat quality features (Aziza et al. 2010). Artemisia annua from the Asteraceae family is an annual weedy herb with global distribution originated.  The herb is native to Asia and especially known as Qinghao in China, and now has become extensively distributed all over the world. The dried leaves of A. annua have been used in traditional medicine for treating malaria-infected patients (Torabi Goodarzi et al. 2006). Anticoccidial and antiparasitic effects of the Asteraceae family have been approved in poultry and ruminant nutrition, respectively (Brisibe et al. 2008). A sesquiterpene lactone called artemisinin is the main compound representing the antiparasitic effects of A. annua and contains an endoperoxide bridge. Besides, further 40 different bioactive compounds including, flavonoids, phenolics, purines, lipids, and other aliphatic compounds exist in A.annua leaves (Brisibe et al. 2009; Ferreira and Janick. 1994). So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the nutritional effects of different levels of Artemisia annua on performance, carcass composition and oxidative stability of Japanese quail meat.
Material and methods: The research was conducted in the teaching and research farm of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Animal Sciences. The Artemisia annua plant was collected from around Gorgan in the late October and early November of 2018. The leaves of the plant were carefully separated and then, placed in a desiccator at 70 ° C for 48 hours. The dried leaves were powdered by electric grinding and kept in nylon in a closed package. A portion of the leaf powder was sent to the laboratory for analysis of its elements. To determine the effect of Artemisia annua on performance, carcass characteristics and oxidative stability of Japanese quail meat, a total of 375 Japanese quails were allocated in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 5 replicates (with 15 birds per each replicate). Birds were fed with zero, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2% Artemisia annua diet for 42 days. Diets were based on corn and soybean and were adjusted according to Poultry Nutrition Requirement Tables (NRC, 1994) using the UFFDA dietary software. In this study, growth performance (including weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio) was calculated weekly. For this purpose, the feed intake was measured by subtracting the amount of feed left at the end of each week from the initial feed amount. Also, the mean birds weight of each replicate was subtracted from the mean weight at the beginning of the week and divided by the number of birds in that treatment in order to measure weekly weight gain. The feed conversion ratio was calculated by dividing the weight gain by feed intake. At 42 days of age, two birds were slaughtered from each pen to determine the carcass characteristics percentage (edible carcass, breast, thigh, liver and heart) and the malondialdehyde level in the breast and thigh tissues. Malondialdehyde was evaluated by the TBA method. All data were analyzed based on a completely randomized design by the GLM procedure of SAS (9.2). Tukey multiple range test was used to study the differences between treatment means.
Results and discussion: Weight gain was not affected by dietary treatments. Supplementing 2% of Artemisia annua in the quail’s diet resulted in a significant decrease in feed intake during the last two weeks of production period (p < 0.05). Gholamrezaie Sani et al., (2013) reported that broilers that received a diet containing Artemisia annua leaf powder had less feed intake compared to the control treatment they linked the reduced feed intake to the high fiber of Artemisia annua. Feed conversion ratio was not affected by dietary treatments, too. Cherian et al. (2013) reported that quails that received diets containing 2 and 4 g/kg Artemisia annua had no significant difference in final body weight and weight gain with the control group. Also, Khalaji et al. (2011) reported that diets containing 1% Artemisia annua had no effect on final body weight and weight gain.  Live weight as well as the weight of the breast, liver and heart were not different between treatments. The highest and the lowest carcass weight were observed in control and 2% Artemisia annua treatments, respectively (p < 0.05). Malondialdehyde concentration in treatments containing 1.5% and 2% Artemisia were significantly different from other treatments (p < 0.05). According to the results of malondialdehyde concentration in thigh muscles, a significant difference between treatments was seen (p < 0.05). The highest level of malondialdehyde concentration in the thigh muscles was observed in chickens received control diet (0.769 mg / kg) and the lowest level (0.556 mg / kg) was seen in quails supplemented with 1.5% Artemisia annua. Also, the highest concentration of malondialdehyde in breast muscles was observed in the control treatment (0.961 mg / kg); while, the lowest level of malondialdehyde was seen in the breast muscles of chicks consumed diet containing 2% of Artemisia (0.638 mg / kg).
 Conclusions: The results showed that feeding 2%of Artemisia annua in Japanese quail could increase their performance through reducing abdominal fat and increasing their meat quality by delaying in MDA production in thigh and breast muscles.