Effects of Ganoderma Lucidum supplementation on the growth performance, biochemical blood parameters, antioxidant and immunity status, and meat quality in slow-growing broilers

Ganoderma Lucidum (G. lucidum) is an edible mushroom and it has been used as a medicinal fungus for centuries. We evaluated the efficacy of G. lucidum on the growth performance, biochemical blood parameters, antioxidant and immunity status, and meat quality in slow-growing broilers. A total of 216 one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly assigned to 3 treatment groups: a basal control diet with 0 mg/kg (G. lucidum), 300 mg/kg (G. lucidum), and 600 mg/kg (G. lucidum) for 50 d. The findings showed that G. lucidum showed an insignificant improvement in body weight and average body weight gain (P = 0.06 (during the early fattening period, and reduced the mortality rate (P < 0.001). In addition, dietary G. lucidum imposed changes in plasma indices, in a dose- and age-dependent manner. G. lucidum treatments increased plasma levels of superoxide dismutase activity (T-SOD) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) at 21 d of age and decreased plasma activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) at 50 d of age. Compared to the control group, the levels of plasma urea nitrogen (UN) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) decreased (P < 0.05) at a low dose of 300 mg G. lucidum/kg and interleukin 6 (IL-6) increased at a high dose of 600 mg G. lucidum/kg at 21 d of age. Plasma immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels increased (P < 0.05) at a high dose of 600 mg G. lucidum/kg, while malondialdehyde (MDA) decreased at a low dose of 300 mg G. lucidum/kg at 50 d of age. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activity in the liver was observed in birds fed 600 mg G. lucidum/kg. G. lucidum treatments increased (P = 0.003) mRNA expressions of jejunal B-cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 (Bcl-2). No differences were observed in the physicochemical indices of meat, except for redness (a*), which was lower (P = 0.02) in birds fed G. lucidum at a high dose of 600 mg/kg compared to the control diet. The findings suggest that G. lucidum would be considered as a feed supplement inclusion with possible ameliorative changes on broilers health status.