Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Growth curve evaluation for Indonesian indigenous Red Kedu chicken by using non-linear models 1 7 4810 10.22103/jlst.2025.24898.1607 EN Asep Setiaji Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Dela Ayu Lestari Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Nuruliarizki Shinta Pandupuspitasari Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Ikania Agusetyaningsih Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Sutopo Sutopo Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Tirta Dwi Tamaningrum Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Syaddad Verahry Philco Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Muhammad Nabil Alfaruq Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Muhammad Asif Raza Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, MNS University of Agriculture, Multan, 66000, Pakistan Sugiharto Sugiharto Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal and Agricultural Sciences, Universitas Diponegoro, Tembalang Campus, Semarang, 50275 Central Java, Indonesia Journal Article 2025 02 28 This study analyzed growth patterns in Red Kedu chickens using nonlinear models to assess their development over time and to identify the model which describe their growth best. In controlled conditions, 129 chickens (54 males and 75 females) were raised, and body weights were recorded weekly until 21 weeks of age. The models used for this study were Gompertz, Logistic, Von Bertalanffy and Brody. Mean squared error (MSE), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), Coefficient of determination (R2), and correlation coefficient (r) were used to assess the model fit. The Gompertz model demonstrated the best fit for females, while the Von Bertalanffy model performed optimally for males. Results revealed distinct growth dynamics between sexes. Males consistently exhibited higher asymptotic weights (A) thus growth rates (C) become slower compared to females. Asymptotic weight estimations ranged from 1,484.15±28.26 g (Logistic) to 3,425.81±66.69 g (Brody) for females and from 2,339.96±49.74 g (Von Bertalanffy) and 3,660.64±51.92 g (Gompertz) for males, respectively. The weight at the inflection point (Wi) was estimated from 494.22 g (Von Bertalanffy) to 742.01 g (Logistic) and from 1,346.68 g (Gompertz) to 1,473.80 g (Von Bertalanffy) for females and males, respectively. The Gompertz model was the best for female chickens, while the Von Bertalanffy model performed best for males. The Brody model had the worst performance in both sexes based on value of MSE, AIC, BIC and R2

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4810_0ee4ecfa56f815d16df2477e538c32ef.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Investigation of selection signatures provides key insights into genetic differences between Holstein and Sarabi dairy cattle breeds 9 17 4905 10.22103/jlst.2025.25072.1617 EN Parisa Biabani Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 7787131587, Iran Hassan Mehrabani Yeganeh Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 7787131587, Iran Hossein Moradi Shahrbabak Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 7787131587, Iran Mahdi Mokhber Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science, Urmia university, Urmia, Iran Journal Article 2025 04 19 Abstract Selection increases the frequency of beneficial alleles in subpopulations, leaving genomic signatures associated with genes and QTLs controlling economic traits. Genomic data from 60 Holstein and 72 Sarabi cattle were analyzed to identify these selection signatures. Quality control and data filtering were performed using PLINK_1.9 software. The genetic group was identified using three complementary methods: principal component analysis (PCA) with PLINK 1.9, discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) implemented in the adegenet package in R, and Admixture analysis conducted with Admixture version 1.23. Subsequently, FST, XP-EHH, and Rsb statistics were used to identify selection signatures. The chromosomal positions of the selected regions were aligned with the bovine genome data (ARS-UCD1.2 Bos Taurus) from the Ensembl Biomart database. Genetic analyses revealed the presence of two distinct genetic groups with different origins. In this study, 16 genomic regions were identified using the FST method, and 18 regions were determined using XP-EHH and Rsb methods, covering approximately 17.5 and 24 Mbp of the bovine genome, respectively. Based on gene ontology analyses, these regions contained coding genes related to key biological processes such as immune response, muscle growth, reproduction, and milk production. Several genes, including MYO1A, STAT6, and PRKAA1, were associated with traits such as carcass quality, fertility, and metabolic processes. The analysis of identified QTLs confirmed the presence of economically important traits, such as growth rate, disease resistance, meat quality, and milk composition. Regions on Bos taurus autosome (BTA) 6 and 10 were identified as key areas for immune-related genes, while milk production traits were observed on regions of BTA 5, 7, and 20. Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into the genetic basis of important economic traits in cattle and can contribute to future breeding programs aimed at improving productivity and disease resistance.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4905_0ac6a02942a18546f9ba0d1bb648dea2.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Studying the genetic loci related to the bovine leukemia virus using random forest method and genomic data 19 29 4906 10.22103/jlst.2025.25353.1634 EN Sara Nezhadi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Engineering, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UTCAN), University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Mohammad Moradi Shahrbabak Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Engineering, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UTCAN), University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran 0000-0002-5255-609X Hossein Moradi Shahrbabak Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Science and Engineering, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UTCAN), University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran Hossein Bani-Saadat Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran 0000-0001-9034-0372 Journal Article 2025 05 28 Bovine leukemia virus (BLV) is a causative agent of bovine leukosis, which, due to its long incubation period, can spread widely within a herd before clinical symptoms appear, causing significant economic losses. This study used a supervised machine learning method called random forest to identify genomic regions associated with BLV. The non-parametric nature of this method allows for the creation of predictive models without the need for initial statistical assumptions; whereas the standard Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) methods are usually based on single-variable hypothesis tests and cannot account for correlations resulting from connectivity imbalance or the combination of multiple markers. In this study, the genotyping data of 145 Holstein cows (77 BLV-positive, 68 healthy) after quality control by using the PLINK (v 1.02), which resulted in 23,910 Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed. Random forest analyses on the mentioned data included three hyperparameters: mtry (0.5(p/3), (p/3), 2(p/3)), ntree (2000, 3000, 4000), and nodesize (5, 10, 15), where p is equal to the total number of SNPs (23,910). To find the best SNPs, the Mean Decrease Accuracy (MDA) index (> 1.89) was used which resulted in the selection of 50 SNPs. Genomic enrichment analyses showed that genes associated with the top 50 SNPs are predominantly involved in Positive Regulation, Intracellular Signaling, Apoptosis and Cell Death, Signal Transduction, Metabolic Processes, and Cell Differentiation and Development. In total, 82 genes were identified, including hub genes such as MYC, RABIF, IRS1, TRAPPC9, MAPK8, HTT, SNX9, BCLAF1, XRN1, and LSM6.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4906_9e73b86d399a06b66b8c19dd7ada5bae.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Overcoming cold stress challenges in indigenous laying hens through diet supplementation with garlic, hot chili, and onion 31 39 4910 10.22103/jlst.2025.25296.1628 EN Anass Ben Moula Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Younes Hmimsa Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Salama El Fatehi Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Ahlem Hamdache Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Hamid El Amri IAGGR, Institute of Genetic Analysis in the Royal Gendarmerie, Rabat Morocco Amr Kchikch Laboratory of Biotechnological Valorization of Microorganisms, Genomics, and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tangier, Morocco Kawtar Dahhou Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Naima Hamidallah Agri-food and Health Laboratory, Faculty of Science and Technology, Hassan I University, BP 577, 26000 Settat, Morocco Mohammed Ezziyyani Department of Life Sciences, Polydisciplinary Faculty of Larache, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, 745 BP, 92004 Larache, Morocco Journal Article 2025 05 18 In this study, the ability of dietary supplementation (2%) with fresh garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa), and hot chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) to reduce cold stress and improve the productivity response of indigenous laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) was investigated. These dietary additives were administered over a two-month period, from November to December. Hens (36 weeks old; n = 180) were assigned to four groups (n = 45/group) and housed in a Mediterranean temperate climate, where temperatures can drop as low as 3°C. Two percent supplements or cornmeal-based diets without supplements (control) were administered to the groups. Assessments were made on egg production, feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg quality, cholesterol levels, and plasma hormones, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and corticosterone. The results showed no significant differences in body weight (P>0.05) across the groups. However, throughout the experiment, egg production, feed conversion ratio, and egg mass were significantly higher (P<0.05) in all supplemented groups. Egg protein content improved (P<0.05) with garlic and chili, and garlic supplementation reduced cholesterol levels (P<0.05). Yolk color was enhanced by the chili additive (P<0.05). Garlic and chili also elevated FSH and LH levels (P<0.05) and reduced corticosterone concentrations (P<0.05), while onion showed milder effects. These findings suggested that Allium sativum and Capsicum annuum enhance cold stress resilience, productivity, and egg quality in laying hens, supporting their use as natural feed additives to improve welfare and performance under cold stress conditions.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4910_1b02dabe7b32e14b3cac3ef26b269c3f.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Effect of adding the cold-water extract of Arugula leaves to drinking water on the growth performance of broilers 41 47 4911 10.22103/jlst.2025.25305.1630 EN Bashar Lehmood Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Iraq Eelaff Mohammed Department of Animal Production, Al-Mussaib Technical College, Al-Furat Al-Awsat University, Iraq Alaa Assaf Department of Medical Biotechnology, College of Science, Al-Mustaqbal University, Babylon, Iraq Hussam Fadhil Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Iraq Luai S. Khlaif Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Iraq Tahreer Al-Thuwaini Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, Al-Qasim Green University, Iraq Journal Article 2025 05 20 The current study investigated the effects of cold-water extract of Arugula (Eruca sativa) leaves on the performance of broiler chickens. A total of 144 Ross 308 broiler chicks was randomly allocated to the experimental treatments, regardless of sex (93 male:51 female), and assigned to four treatment groups from day one. Each treatment group consisted of 36 chicks, divided into 12 chicks per replicate. The first treatment (T1) served as the control (without any additives), while the second treatment (T2) included 50 mg/mL of cold-water extract of Arugula leaves added to each liter of drinking water. The third treatment (T3) involved 100 mg/mL of the extract, and the fourth treatment contained 150 mg/mL of the extract in the drinking water. The study demonstrated that the chicks receiving 100 mg/mL cold-water extract of Arugula leaves (T3) recorded higher body weight and weight gain, along with an improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) and reduced feed intake compared to the other treatments (P<0.05). Consequently, the T3 treatment resulted in markedly enhanced performance. Antioxidant enzyme activities, including glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), significantly increased in this group, accompanied by reduced levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) (P<0.05). Additionally, the T3 treatment led to a significant increase in hemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), and total red blood cell (RBC) counts compared to the other treatments (P<0.05). The T3 group exhibited lower percentages of heterophils and higher percentages of lymphocytes, resulting in a more favorable heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio. These findings indicated that the cold-water extract of Arugula leaves effectively mitigated the oxidative stress and enhanced both the growth performance and hematological parameters in broilers.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4911_a61cb65778a0e506a9b155dd98e3e5b4.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Effect of betaine supplementation in diets containing oxidized oil on growth performance, blood metabolites, meat quality and oxidative stability of broiler chickens 49 56 4927 10.22103/jlst.2025.25169.1623 EN Fahimeh Rostami Salari Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran Mozhgan Mazhari Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran Omidali Esmaeilipour Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Jiroft, Kerman, Iran Journal Article 2025 04 27 To investigate the effect of betaine supplementation in diets containing oxidized oil on growth performance, blood metabolites and meat quality of broiler chickens, a 2×2 factorial experiment with four treatments and four replicates was performed using 144 one-day-old male Ross 308 chicks. The experimental groups included basal diet with fresh soybean oil (Peroxide value (Peroxide value (PV): 3 meq kg-1), basal diet with fresh soybean oil and 0.1% betaine, basal diet with oxidized oil (PV: 200 meq kg-1), and basal diet with oxidized oil and 0.1% betaine. Performance traits were measured at the end of each period. At the end of the trial, two chicks/replicate were randomly selected, weighed, and the blood metabolites and meat quality traits were evaluated. The results showed that the use of oxidized oil led to a significant decrease in feed consumption and weight gain and an increase in feed conversion ratio in the grower, finisher, and the whole breeding period (P<0.05), while the addition of betaine supplementation led to an increase in feed consumption, weight gain and a decrease in feed conversion ratio (P<0.05). The effect of oxidized oil on blood metabolites was not significant while betaine supplementation lowered blood cholesterol and triglycerides (P<0.05). In chickens fed oxidized oil, water holding capacity of breast meat decreased and cooking loss, drip loss, and meat peroxide value increased (P<0.05), while betaine supplementation increased the water holding capacity and decreased cooking loss, drip loss, and meat peroxide value (P<0.05). Oxidized oil increased the amount of malondialdehyde in breast and thigh meat within 30 days after slaughter (P<0.05). The addition of betaine resulted in a reduction in breast and thigh malondialdehyde content (P<0.05). Therefore, oxidized oil may reduce growth performance, meat quality and oxidative stability, while betaine supplementation plays an effective role in improving the growth performance, quality and oxidative stability of meat of broiler chickens.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4927_7324dc288f7081daa88aac9abec233fb.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Prediction of ovarian cancer in Holstein cattle using machine learning and microarray data 57 65 4928 10.22103/jlst.2025.25281.1626 EN Mostafa Ghaed-Rahmati Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran 0000-0003-1767-7475 Farhad Ghafouri-Kesbi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran Ahmad Ahmadi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran Journal Article 2025 05 16 Abstract The aim was to the network visualization of genes involved in ovarian cancer in Holstein cattle and assess the performance of machine learning (ML) methods for predicting ovarian cancer using gene expression microarray data. Gene expression data with accession number GSE225981for healthy and cancer ovarian stromal cells in Holstein cows were obtained from the GEO database. Differentially expressed genes (up and down-regulated genes, DEGs) were identified with online web tool GEO2R. After identifying DEGs and genes associated with ovarian cancer, the Cytoscape software was used to visualize the gene network. Decision tree (DT), random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM) were used to predict the phenotype (healthy or cancer) from the microarray data. The variable importance feature of RF applying the Gini index was used to select and rank the most important genes in the network. Selected genes were then evaluated to determine their contribution in cancer-related pathways. There were 603 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of which 327 were up-regulated and 276 were down-regulated. Except for the scenario of 2 samples in training data and 4 samples in test data in which the accuracy of DT was 75%, in other scenarios, the ML methods predicted the phenotypes (healthy or cancer) with the accuracy of 100%. The genes GPR65, RHBDF2, TBC1D30, DSG2, H2AC17, AFF3, AGMO, AURKA, CA3 and CA9 were selected by RF as promising potential markers for diagnosis and prediction of ovarian cancer. A literature survey showed the involvement of these genes in the process and cancerous pathways. In conclusion, the studied ML methods were recommended for analyzing microarray data as showed significant performance in predicting ovarian cancer in Holstein cattle. Also, the variable importance feature of RF can be part of any study on microarray data for identifying important genes, those which are highly correlated with the disease in question.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4928_540b7c4ea422bfa9adf851850da5e3b3.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 The influence of parental imprinting on some economic traits in Markhoz goats 67 74 4934 10.22103/jlst.2025.25440.1638 EN Mohammad Reza Bahreini Behzadi Animal Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, 75918-74831 Yasouj, Iran Journal Article 2025 06 16 Parental effects refer to the phenomenon whereby gene expression is influenced by the parent of origin, a process known as genomic imprinting. These effects may significantly affect phenotypic traits and shape the genetic architecture of individuals, making them an important factor in animal breeding and genetic evaluation programs. This study aimed to examine the impact of parental imprinting effects on genetic variation in a Markhoz goat population, with emphasis on body weight traits at birth (BW), weaning (WW), six months (6MW), nine months (9MW), yearling (YW), and yearling fleece weight (YFW). The analysis was conducted in two phases. Initially, each trait was modeled using 12 univariate animal models incorporating various combinations of direct and maternal genetic effects. The best-fitting model for each trait was selected using the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). In the second phase, three additional models were constructed by integrating maternal imprinting, paternal imprinting, or both into the selected model, and the resulting changes in AIC values were evaluated. The results revealed that including the paternal imprinting effects substantially improved model fit for BW and 9MW, as these models showed the lowest AIC values. Conversely, for WW, 6MW, YW, and YFW, imprinting variances were negligible, suggesting limited influence of parental origin and supporting the exclusion of these effects from genetic evaluation models for these traits. Across all traits analyzed, paternal imprinting effects accounted for 0.7% to 11% of the phenotypic variance, while maternal imprinting effects contributed between 1.5% and 9%. Furthermore, incorporating the parental imprinting effects into the analysis led to reductions in both the direct and maternal heritability estimates. These findings highlighted the necessity of accounting for parental imprinting, particularly paternal effects, in genetic evaluation of body weight traits in Markhoz goats.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4934_2cdbc708181cac855fc2a5977c43b2dc.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Modulating broiler gut microbial population: The prebiotic effect of date pit powder in wheat-based diets 75 82 4935 10.22103/jlst.2025.25435.1637 EN Pari Arzanesh Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Food Technology, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran Mohammad Reza Ghorbani Department of Animal Sciences, Shirvan Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran Ali Aghaei Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Food Technology, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran Somayyeh Salari Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Food Technology, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University of Khuzestan, Mollasani, Iran Journal Article 2025 06 12 This study examined the prebiotic potential of date pit powder incorporated into a wheat-based diet, on the performance in broiler chickens. In this experiment 240 broiler chicks were used in a completely randomized design with six treatments and five replicates. The experimental treatments consisted of: 1- positive control (PC, based on the corn-soybean meal), 2-negative control (NC, based on the wheat-soybean meal), 3- NCP; NC with prebiotic, 4- NCE; NC with enzyme, 5- 1.5NCDP; NC with 1.5 % date pit powder and 6- 3NCDP; NC with 3 % date pit powder. The results showed that during the starter period, the PC group had the lowest feed intake and the best feed conversion ratio among the groups (P<0.05). The Escherichia coli population in cecal contents of the NCE and 3NCDP groups were lower significantly than in PC. The ileal content pH in NC was higher than that in PC, NCE, and 1.5NCDP groups. By adding prebiotics and enzymes to wheat-based broiler diets, the primary and secondary antibody titers against SRBC were increased compared to NC group. In conclusion, supplementing wheat-based broiler diets with 1.5% date pit powder enhanced birds gut health.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4935_1c953b480c2ac6c8eccd01e3eaa5c53a.pdf

Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and Iranian Society of Animal Science Journal of Livestock Science and Technologies 2322-3553 14 1 2026 09 01 Investigating the impact of supplementing drinking water with olive leaf extract on microbial load and oxidative stability of breast meat in broilers 83 89 4936 10.22103/jlst.2025.25307.1632 EN Zohreh Divrakhsh Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran Mokhtar Khajavi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran Mohammad Reza Bahreini Behzadi Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran Mohammad Houshmand Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran Journal Article 2025 05 21 Deterioration of fresh meat quality is primarily attributed to microbial contamination and oxidative processes. Recently, plant-based natural preservatives, such as olive leaf extract (OLE), have gained considerable attention due to their antibacterial and antioxidant properties, which improve meat hygiene and prolong shelf life. This study evaluated the impact of supplementing broiler drinking water with ethanolic OLE on the oxidative stability and microbial load of breast meat in broilers. A completely randomized design was employed, comprising four treatment groups with four replicates of 20 birds each. Treatments included a control group (no OLE) and drinking water supplemented with 0.4%, 0.6%, or 0.8% ethanolic OLE for 42 days. After slaughter, breast meat samples were stored at 4°C for 12 days, during which lipid oxidation and bacterial counts were assessed every two days. Lipid oxidation was measured by determining malondialdehyde concentrations. Results showed that all OLE levels significantly reduced the Enterobacter counts up to day 12 compared to the control. The 0.6% OLE group exhibited the most pronounced antibacterial effect, reducing counts of Enterobacter, psychrotrophic bacteria, Lactobacillus, and total bacteria throughout the storage period. Additionally, malondialdehyde levels were consistently lower in all extract-treated samples, underscoring the antioxidant efficacy of OLE. In conclusion, supplementing broiler drinking water with OLE is an effective strategy to reduce bacterial contamination and enhance the oxidative stability of refrigerated breast meat, presenting a promising approach for improving poultry meat quality using plant-derived bioactive compounds.

https://lst.uk.ac.ir/article_4936_4fce32d525fd79aea5e4ec1bb103e12f.pdf