Table 5.
Effect of dietary β-sitosterol inclusion at various levels on intestinal morphology in broilers.
| Items1 | β-Sitosterol level (mg/kg) |
SEM2 |
P value |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 100 | Linear | Quadratic | ||
| Jejunum | ||||||||
| VH (μm) | 1,437c | 1,423c | 1,481b,c | 1,538a,b | 1,573a | 13 | <0.001 | 0.173 |
| CD (μm) | 196 | 191 | 200 | 201 | 198 | 2 | 0.246 | 0.806 |
| VH:CD (μm: μm) | 7.34b | 7.47a,b | 7.42a,b | 7.64a,b | 7.97a | 0.07 | 0.003 | 0.216 |
| Ileum | ||||||||
| VH (μm) | 1,234b | 1,251a,b | 1,253a,b | 1,306a,b | 1,329a | 10 | <0.001 | 0.378 |
| CD (μm) | 189 | 192 | 195 | 191 | 185 | 2 | 0.507 | 0.870 |
| VH:CD (μm: μm) | 6.53b | 6.55a,b | 6.78a,b | 6.86a,b | 7.18a | 0.04 | 0.001 | 0.361 |
a-cMeans within a row with different superscripts are different at P < 0.05.
1
VH, villus height; CD, crypt depth; VH:CD, villus height-to-crypt depth ratio.
2
SEM, total standard error of means (n = 6).