Effect of fermented dandelion on productive performance, meat quality, immune function, and intestinal microbiota of broiler chickens

Background Dandelion has a great potential to be used as feed additive. Using microbial fermentation technology to degrade cell walls is conducive to enable better release of bioactive compounds of dandelion. This study intended to explore the effect of fermented dandelion (FD) on production performance, meat quality, immune function, and intestinal microbiota of broiler chickens. One-hundred and twenty 1-day-old male Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly allotted into three treatments: CON (basal diet, control), LFD and HFD (basal diet with 500 and 1000 mg/kg FD, respectively), with five replicates of eight birds each. The experiment lasted for 42 days. Results The results showed that birds in HFD group had increased ADG during 1–21 days ( P < 0.05). On day 21, the bursa of Fabricius index of birds in LFD group was higher (P < 0.05), while the serum contents of IFN-γ and TNF-ɑ were lower in HFD group ( P < 0.05). FD supplementation decreased the observed_species, shannon, chao1 and ace indexes ( P < 0.05) as well as the abundance of Bacteroidota, Bacteroides , and Alistipes ( P < 0.05). Birds in HFD group had higher abundance of Firmicutes and lower abundance of Verrucomicrobiota ( P < 0.05). LFD group had lower abundance of unidentified_bacteria ( P < 0.05). On day 42, the abdominal fat yield of HFD group was decreased ( P < 0.05). Birds in LFD group had lower L* and b* values of breast muscle ( P < 0.05), while higher spleen index. The CAT activities of breast muscle of FD groups were higher ( P < 0.05). Conclusion In summary, dietary FD supplementation at 1000 mg/kg improved production performance and immune function and modulated microbiota composition in ileum of broiler chickens. FD can be supplemented in the diet to enhance performance and health of broiler chickens, of which 1000 mg/kg FD is more effective.