부산대학교 도서관

We investigated the impact of green tea powder (GTP) as an alternative to antibiotics on growth performance and gut health in broilers. A total of 340 one-day-old broilers were assigned to four dietary treatments as control (free of antibiotic), antibiotic, GTP 0.5 g/kg (GTP-1) and GTP 1 g/kg (GTP-2). Overall, the antibiotic group demonstrated significantly (P < 0.05) higher feed intake, weight gain, lower feed conversion ratio and better dressing percentage compared to the GTP groups, and the control group had the lowest values. GTP-1 showed the highest (P < 0.05) villus height (VH), followed by the antibiotic group and GTP-2, while the control group had the lowest villus height. The control group displayed a higher (P < 0.05) crypt depth, followed by GTP-2, while the antibiotic group and GTP-1 had significantly (P < 0.05) lower crypt depth. The villus height to crypt depth ratio was significantly higher in GTP-1, followed by similar values in the antibiotic group and GTP-2, while the control group had the lowest ratio (P < 0.05). From the results of the present study, we concluded that GTP at the level of 0.5 g/kg of feed is an excellent dose vis-à-vis antibiotic in broiler for optimum growth performance and gut health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]