Tissue biochemical assessment of broiler chicks fed diets containing varying concentrations of watermelon seed meal (WMSM) as a replacement for soyabean

Abstract

Watermelon and its seeds possess antioxidants that help fight reactive oxygen species. This research examined the biochemical parameters such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S transferase (GST) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in the liver and kidney of broiler chicks fed diets containing varying levels of watermelon seed meal (WMSM). One hundred newly hatched unsexed broiler chicks were divided into five dietary treatments, four replicates of five birds per replicate in a completely randomized experimental design. Treatment 1 is the control diet (T1 - 0% watermelon seed meal), while Treatments 2 to 5 (T2-T5) represented inclusion levels of the seeds at 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% respectively. The experiment lasted for three weeks Birds were sacrificed by severing the jugular vein. Both the liver and kidney aspartate aminotransferase activities were significantly (p <0.05) differences amongst the kidney gamma-glutamyl transferase activities of birds fed 20, 30 and 40% WMSM (1.856, 1.969 and 1.950 U/mg protein) respectively. The superoxide dismutase activity in liver (30% WMSM) and kidney (20% WMSM) (2.78 and 3.02 U/mg protein) respectively of birds on the experimental diets were significantly (p <0.05) different amongst other treatments. Overall, the results of liver/kidney enzymes and antioxidant parameters revealed that birds can effectively cope with watermelon seed meal up to 30% without any detrimental effect.