ABSTRACT
A total of 896 1-day-old straight-run (Ross-308) broilers were used to investigate the interactive effects of protein source (PS), diet structure (DS) and butyric acid (BA) on live performance and carcass characteristics, gut development and its morphology and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of protein and amino acids (AA). Eight experimental diets comprising 8 replicates with 14 birds each were tested in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with complete randomized design by two levels of BA (0 and 0.1%), two forms of DS (whole vs. ground wheat) and two PS, i.e., soybean meal and canola meal (SBM vs. CM). Throughout the entire experimental period (0 to 35 d), broilers fed SBM-based diets exhibited better (p < 0.05) growth performance (feed intake (FI), body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR)), carcass parameters (p < 0.05), gut health (p < 0.05), and nutrient digestibility (p < 0.05) than CM-fed broilers. Dietary whole wheat (WW) positively affected FI (p = 0.001), BWG (p = 0.004) and FCR (p = 0.035) during the overall experimental period. Broilers fed WW had 6, 5, 8, 11 and 10% lower empty relative weights of crop, proventriculus, jejunum, ileum and colon and 25 and 15% heavier gizzard and pancreas, respectively, with longer villus height (p < 0.001), reduced crypt depth (p = 0.031) and longer villus height-to-crypt depth ratio (p < 0.001) than those fed ground-wheat-based diets. Broilers fed WW had greater (p < 0.05) AID of CP and most of the AA. Butyric acid supplementation resulted in improved (p < 0.05) growth performance and digestibility of threonine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, serine and aspartate. The broilers consuming SBM had 28% lower abdominal fat than those fed CM-based diets. In conclusion, harmful consequences of a less digestible PS can partially be compensated by the inclusion of WW, and supplementation of BA further reduces these detrimental effects.
ABSTRACT
The Citrullus colocynthis L is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. Several pharmacological investigations have been performed based on the medicinal application of Citrullus colocynthis. The anticancer and antidiabetic activities of fruit and seed extracts of Citrullus colocynthis have been studied. Newly developed anticancer/antitumor medications appear to have been developed based on the extracted chemicals from Citrullus colocynthis due to the high contents of cucurbitacins. The present study aimed to identify the cytotoxic effect of the crude alcoholic extract of plants of Citrullus colocynthis on the growth of human hepatocyte carcinoma (Hep-G2). The results of the chemical (preliminary) examination of the extract indicated that the fruits contain most of the secondary metabolites including Flavonoids, Tannins, Sapiens, Resins, Amino acids, Glycosides, Terpenes, Alkaloids, and Flavonoids. The toxicological effect of the crude extract was investigated by using six half dilutions concentrations of 20,10,5,2.5,1.25, and 0.625 µg/m at three exposure periods of 24,48, and 72 h using MTT testing. The toxicological effect of the extract appeared for all six concentrations in the Hep-G2 cell line. The highest concentration of 20 µg/ml had the highest percentage inhibition rate with a significant difference (P≤0.01) and reached 93.36 ±1.61 after 72 h of exposure. While the lowest concentration of 0.625 µg/ml was recorded rate of inhibition of 23.36 ± 2.34 after 24 h of exposure. The findings of the present study concluded that the Citrullus colocynthis is one of the most promising medicinal plants which effectively treats cancer through its inhibitory effect and fatal toxicity on cancer cells.
