ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Microbes
This article is part of the Research TopicModulating the Gut Immune Microenvironment through Nutrients: Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential in Immune-Related Gastrointestinal DisordersView all 7 articles
Evaluating dietary Chinese yam - Rehmannia glutinosa 'medicine pair' on growth performance, body size trait, slaughtering performance, antioxidant capacity, and cecum microbiota of broilers
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Animal Science, College of Biology and Food, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
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Objectives: Chinese yam and Rehmannia glutinosa, Henan province local medicinal herbs, have received attention owing to its positive nutritional and medicinal characteristics. The combination of Chinese yam and Rehmannia glutinosa, known as a ‘medicine pair’, has a long history of use. However, no published study has evaluated Chinese yam - Rehmannia glutinosa medicine pair (CYRG) as a dietary additive in broilers. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of dietary CYRG on growth performance, body measurements, slaughtering performance, antioxidant capacity and cecum microbiota of broilers. Methods: Total of 300 23-day-old Arbor Acres female broilers were randomly assigned to the 5 treatment groups (CON, 0.5% CYRG, 1% CYRG, 1.5% CYRG, and 2% CYRG) with 6 replications and 10 birds/replicate. In the CON group, broilers received the basal diet, and other 4 groups received the basal diet supplemented with 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% CYRG, respectively. The feeding trial lasted for 19 d, until to 42 d. Results: The results showed that 0.5% CYRG group had the highest of body weight gain, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake among the 5 groups. Supplementation CYRG significantly improved the slaughter percentage and semi-evisceration weight percentage of broilers (P＜0.05). Supplementation 0.5% CYRG and 1% CYRG significantly increased the level of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-4) and decreased the pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6) level (P＜0.05). Supplementation 1.5% CYRG improved the levels of serum immunoglobulins G (IgG) and IgM (P＜0.05). 0.5% CYRG significantly increased the levels of catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and total antioxidant capacity (T- AOC), and decreased the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) (P＜0.05). Microbiological analysis showed that CYRG supplementation increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria (Firmicutes) and decreased the quantity of harmful bacteria (Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria). Correlation analysis indicated that Lactobacillus salivarius and Lactobacillus_crispatus were positively associated with serum IgA and IgG (P＜0.05). And Ruminococcaceae were positively correlated with CAT and GSH-Px activities (P＜0.05), and Unclassified Clostridia ucG 014 was negatively correlated with MDA (P＜0.05). Conclusion: Results showed that dietary CYRG improved the economic benefits of broilers by improving slaughter performance, physical and intestinal health. The 0.5% CYRG dose was recommended.
Keywords: broiler, Cecum microbiota, Chinese yam, medicine pair, Rehmannia glutinosa
Received: 10 Jan 2026; Accepted: 04 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhang, Guo, Ding, Ma, Li and Zhang. 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: Yan Guo
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