Dietary supplementation with pure or plant-derived phytochemicals alters growth performance, lipid profiles, hepatic gene expression, and intestinal health in broiler chickens

This study evaluated pure ferulic acid ( FA ) or a FA-rich corn pericarp extract ( CPE ) dietary supplementation on broiler growth performance and associated physiological and microbial responses. Ross 708 d-old male chicks (n=300) were randomly assigned to three corn-soybean meal diets: no additive (Control), 100 mg/kg FA, or 600 mg/kg CPE, standardized to provide 100 mg/kg FA equivalents. From 0–21 d, birds were reared in battery cages (5 birds/pen; 20 pens/treatment) with a subset transferred to floor pens (10 birds/pen; 3 pens/treatment) from 22–42 d. No overall differences in growth performance were observed from 0–21 d; however, differences within wk were detected. At 7 d, CPE increased BW, body weight gain ( BWG ), and FI compared to FA, while BWG was reduced at 14 d. FA increased BW at 35 and 42 d along with BWG from 22–42 d compared to CPE. CPE increased intestinal weights at 42 d and altered duodenal morphology at 21 d, including decreased villus height ( VH ), increased crypt depth ( CD ), and reduced VH/CD ratio. At 42 d, both FA and CPE upregulated hepatic GPX1 expression and modulated cytokine gene expression. Age primarily influenced microbial diversity; however, FA and CPE promoted early enrichment of beneficial taxa at 7 d. Overall, age primarily drove physiological and microbial changes; however, FA and CPE differentially influenced growth, intestinal development, hepatic function, and gut microbiota in an age-dependent manner. These findings support potential for FA-based additives to impact broiler performance, with associated effects on gut health and physiology.