Dietary Effect of Selenium-enriched Radish Sprouts, Vitamin E, and Rhodobacter capsulatus on Hypocholesterolemia and Immunity of Broiler

The study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary seleniumenriched radish sprouts (se-rs), vitamin e (vit e), and rhodobacter capsulatus (rc) on immunity, cholesterol concentration, and fatty acid composition in broiler meat. a total of 100 two-week-old male broiler chicks were randomly assigned into five dietary groups: i) control; ii) se-rs (5 μg/kg se-rs); iii) se-rs+rc (5 μg/kg se-rs + 0.2 g/kg rc); iv) se-rs+vit e (5 μg/kg se-rs + 50 mg/kg vit e) and v) se- rs+rc+vit e (5 μg/kg se-rs + 0.2 g/kg rc + 50 mg/kg vit e). diets and clean drinking water were offered ad libitum. after the end of 3-wk of feeding period, serum cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations were lower (p < 0.05) in broilers fed se-rs + rc + vit e supplemented diet compared to the control diet. at the end of the 6-wk feeding period, birds fed the se-rs+rc+vit e diet significantly (p < 0.05) reduced cholesterol and triglycerides concentrations and improved the ratio of unsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids in broiler meat. the highest (p < 0.05) number of leukocytes was observed in broilers fed se-rs+rc+vit e supplemented diet. foot web index and weights of spleen, bursa, and thymus were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in birds fed se-rs+rc+vit e compared to the control diet. our findings suggest that there are dual benefits of supplementing broiler diets with se- rs+rc+vit e because of improvements in the bird’s immunity and meat quality that is important for health conscious consumers.