ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1680826
This article is part of the Research TopicBioactive-Enriched Foods: A Present, and Future Perspective on Sustainability and NutritionView all 5 articles
The effects of dietary supplementation with ellagic acid on the growth performance, nutrient apparent metabolic rate, slaughter performance, and fecal microbiota diversity of young pigeons
Provisionally accepted
- 1Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
- 2Xinjiang Agricultural University College of Animal Science, Urumqi, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The aim of this experiment was to assess the growth performance, apparent metabolic rate of nutrients, slaughter characteristics, and fecal flora diversity in pigeons. A total of 192 29-day-old American King Pigeons, weighing 470 ± 10 g, with an equal distribution of males and females, were selected. The pigeons were randomly assigned to four groups, with six replicates per group and eight pigeons per replicate. The experimental groups were supplemented with ellagic acid (EA) at concentrations of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg, respectively. The pre-feeding period lasted for 4 days, followed by a formal experimental period of 28 days. The results indicated that, in terms of growth performance, 400 mg/kg EA significantly improved chest width, chest depth, and tibia length in pigeons. However, no significant effect was observed on the apparent metabolic rate of nutrients in the young pigeons. Regarding blood parameters, dietary supplementation with 100 mg/kg EA increased serum glutathione peroxidase levels, while 100–200 mg/kg EA supplementation elevated serum immunoglobulin A levels. Additionally, 200 mg/kg EA supplementation raised serum total protein levels. Supplementation with 400 mg/kg EA regulated liver function, reduced serum aspartate aminotransferase activity, and increased serum malondialdehyde content. In terms of slaughter characteristics and organ weights, EA supplementation improved immune organ indices, enhanced immunity, and significantly increased muscle and stomach weight. In terms of fecal flora diversity, a 200 mg/kg EA supplementation level was found to be beneficial for maintaining the richness and stability of the intestinal microbiota. In conclusion, adding ellagic acid to the diet improved growth performance, immunity, total protein levels, and intestinal microbiota stability in pigeons, with the most pronounced effects observed at a supplementation level of 200 mg/kg.
Keywords: growth performance, Nutrient apparent metabolic rate, Slaughterperformance, Fecal microbiota diversity, Health, Ellagic Acid
Received: 06 Aug 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ren, Ding, Li, Liu and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiajia Liu, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.