Investigating the Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Rytigynia umbellulata Leaf Essential oil on the Growth Performance, Carcass Characteristics, Nutrient retention, Intestinal Microbial Population and Sensory Evaluation of Japanese Quails

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of Rytigynia umbellulata leaf essential oil on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, nutrient retention, intestinal microbial population and sensory evaluation of Japanese quails. 500- two weeks old Japanese quails (mixed sex) were randomly distributed into five treatment groups and each treatment had five replicates (20 birds per replicate). The duration of the experiment was 35 days and a completely randomized design was adopted. Quails in group A received standard diet (corn-soybean based diet) with Oxytetracycline at 15 g per kg diet, treatment B (standard diet with 5 mL Rytigynia umbellulata essential oil), treatment C, D and E were fed standard diet supplemented with Rytigynia umbellulata essential oil at 10 mL, 15 mL and 20 mL respectively. Birds had unrestricted access to feed and fresh water. Final body weight, feed conversion ratio and feed consumption improved in birds fed Rytigynia umbellulata essential oil in group: B, C, D and E compared to group A (p˂0.05). Dressing percentage (60.89 - 76.02 %) and carcass weight (109.0 - 199.6 g) were influenced (p˂0.05) except for the weights of shank, neck, breast, back, head, drumstick, thigh, wing and abdominal fat (p˃0.05). Crude protein, crude fibre, ash, ether extract and nitrogen free extract retention were higher among birds in group B, C, D and E compared to A (p˂0.05). Microbial population of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Enterococcus spp were higher among birds in group A than other treatments whereas Lactobacillus spp were higher among birds in group B, C, D, E and lowest in group A (p˂0.05). Juiciness, colour, tenderness, flavor and overall acceptability of meat samples were also affected. It was concluded that Rytigynia umbellulata leaf essential oil has abundant concentrations of phyto-components or bioactive compounds which are effective, chemical free and can be supplemented up to 20 mL per kg in the diet of quails without negatively affecting their general performance.