Effect of Raw and Fermented Grape Pomace on the Growth Performance, Antioxidant Status, Intestinal Morphology, and Selected Bacterial Species in Broiler Chicks.

The effects of raw (GP) and fermented grape pomace (FGP) on the growth performance, some carcass parameters, antioxidant status, intestinal morphology, and selected bacterial species in broiler chicken were investigated in this study. Grape pomace was fermented with Aspergillus niger for 7 d. In total, 140 one-day-old male chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to four treatment groups, with five replicates and seven birds each. Chickens were fed either a basal diet (CON) or the basal diet supplemented with 0.25 g/kg synthetic antioxidants (5% butylated hydroxytoluene, 1% butylated hydroxyanisole, and 11% ethoxyquin) (AO), or 15 g/kg GP (GP), or 15 g/kg FGP (FGP) for 42 d. Dietary GP raised serum glutathione peroxidase ( p = 0.031) and superoxide dismutase ( p = 0.021) levels, increased ileum lamina muscularis thickness ( p = 0.016), and did not affect selected bacterial species in the cecum of broiler chickens. Dietary FGP improved body weight ( p = 0.003), increased the serum catalase level ( p = 0.032), and decreased the cecal Clostridium perfringens count ( p = 0.033) but did not affect the ileal morphology of broiler chickens. The carcass parameters, malondialdehyde level, pH, and color of the breast meat of chickens were not changed by either GP or FGP supplementation. Chickens fed with the synthetic antioxidants had similar growth performance with the chickens fed with FGP but had better body weight ( p = 0.003) and feed conversion ratio ( p = 0.045) compared with the chickens fed with GP. The obtained results showed that FGP can be used as an alternative to synthetic antioxidants in broiler diets.