Modulation of serum and liver triglyceride and abdominal fat padweight by dietary garlic in male broilers

In poultry, the liver is the main organ for the synthesis of triglycerides (tg) and theirsecretion into the plasma. secretion of tgs from the liver and their storage in adipose tissue ofthe abdominal cavity reduces the meat yield. there are controversial reports about the effects ofgarlic on the levels of tg in the serum and liver of poultry. in this study, different diets thatcontained various levels of garlic powder were assessed with regards to their effects on thelevels of tg in serum and the liver, and on the abdominal fat pad. for this purpose,144 3maleross broilers who were three weeks old were assigned into four groups of 36 birds each, and fedon diets that were supplemented with 1, 2 or 4% of garlic powder, or with a diet that was notsupplemented with garlic (the control group). at the end of the fifth and seventh weeks of thestudy, 15 chicks of each group were bled and then sacrificed. the livers and abdominal fat padwere removed. liver and serum tg were extracted and measured by spectrophotometry. thetg levels of serum and the abdominal fat pad were not affected by diet by the end of the fifthweek, but diets that contained 2% and 4% garlic powder had a significantly decreased hepatictg level in comparison with the control group (p<0.05). at the end of the seventh week, asignificant decrease in serum and hepatic tg levels was found in the birds that were fed a dietthat contained 2% and 4% garlic powder, respectively (p<0.05). also, the diet with 4% garlicpowder significantly decreased the weight of the abdominal fat pad in comparison with thecontrol group (p<0.05). it is concluded that garlic powder has the potential to decrease the levelsoftgin the serum and liver in broilers in a dose–dependent manner.