Table 4. Effect of dietary plant-based flavonoid blend on serum biochemical indices of broilers.
| Variables | Flavonoid blend (FB)1/kg diet | p-value2 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | Overall | L | Q | C | ||
| Serum lipid profile (mg/dl) | |||||||||
| TG | 54.51b ± 1.79 | 66.41a ± 9.87 | 54.67b ± 5.40 | 39.88c ± 3.28 | <0.01 | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.02 | |
| TC | 116.03a ± 3.87 | 99.65ab ± 14.89 | 87.98b ± 3.02 | 95.44b ± 13.24 | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.07 | 0.59 | |
| HDL-C | 33.31b ± 3.30 | 43.62a ± 2.97 | 46.97a ± 2.72 | 46.77a ± 5.14 | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.03 | 0.72 | |
| LDL-C | 71.81a ± 6.18 | 42.74b ± 13.46 | 30.08b ± 3.05 | 41.02b ± 16.32 | 0.01 | <0.01 | 0.01 | 0.80 | |
| VLDL-C | 10.90b ± 0.35 | 13.28a ± 1.51 | 10.93b ± 1.08 | 7.97c ± 0.65 | <0.01 | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.15 | |
| Serum protein indices (mg/dl) | |||||||||
| TP | 2.28 ± 0.24 | 2.61 ± 0.34 | 2.51 ± 0.23 | 3.41 ± 1.11 | 0.19 | 0.06 | 0.43 | 0.38 | |
| Albumin | 0.99b ± 0.06 | 1.21b ± 0.13 | 1.69a ± 0.30 | 1.75a ± 0.13 | <0.01 | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.02 | |
| Globulin | 1.29 ± 0.21 | 1.40 ± 0.38 | 0.82 ± 0.23 | 1.56 ± 0.97 | 0.05 | 0.11 | 0.05 | 0.08 | |
| Uric acid | 14.52 ± 0.53 | 14.23 ± 0.47 | 14.43 ± 0.61 | 13.70 ± 0.53 | 0.32 | 0.14 | 0.51 | 0.33 | |
| Liver health status (IU/l) | |||||||||
| ALT | 16.68a ± 1.50 | 12.53b ± 2.55 | 8.82c ± 2.27 | 6.30c ± 1.20 | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.50 | 0.88 | |
| AST | 6.02a ± 0.62 | 4.89ab ± 1.55 | 4.56ab ± 1.77 | 2.48b ± 1.82 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.60 | 0.53 | |
| ALP | 39.21a ± 2.71 | 22.68b ± 6.90 | 15.65b ± 13.75 | 7.53b ± 7.35 | 0.01 | <0.01 | 0.42 | 0.64 | |
| Serum mineral profile (mg/dl) | |||||||||
| Ca | 7.55 ± 0.55 | 7.74 ± 1.46 | 7.26 ± 0.52 | 7.38 ± 0.88 | 0.92 | 0.69 | 0.69 | 0.61 | |
| P | 4.67 ± 0.57 | 4.70 ± 0.31 | 4.55 ± 0.48 | 4.40 ± 0.43 | 0.85 | 0.44 | 0.74 | 0.88 | |
TG: triglycerides; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; VLDL-C: very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TP: total protein; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; Ca: calcium; P: phosphorus; mg/dl: milligram per deciliter; IU/l: international units per liter. 10 FB: basal diet containing mainly corn-soya bean meal without flavonoid blend and having ME = 2982 kcal/kg & CP = 21.61% in the starter and ME = 3051 kcal/kg & CP = 20.65% in grower); 0.2 FB: 0.2-gm flavonoid blend/kg diet; 0.4 FB: 0.4-gm flavonoid blend/kg diet; 0.6 FB: 0.6-gm flavonoid blend/kg diet. 2L: linear; Q: quadratic; C: cubic; values of different variables indicate as mean ± standard deviation; abcmeans values with dissimilar superscripts differ significantly (p < 0.05).