Efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves to ameliorate the toxic effects of aflatoxin B₁ in turkey poults

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of an adsorbent material based on powdered alfalfa leaves added in the aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1))-contaminated diet of turkey poults on production parameters, blood cell count, serum biochemistry, liver enzymes, and liver histology. For this purpose, three hundred and fifty female Nicholas-700 poults were randomly assigned into five treatments: (1) Control, AFB(1)-free diet; (2) AF, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB(1)/g; (3) Alfalfa, AFB(1)-free diet + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent; (4) AF+alfalfa, diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB(1)/g + 0.5% (w/w) adsorbent, and (5) AF+ yeast cell wall (YCW), diet contaminated with 250 ng AFB(1)/g + 0.5% (w/w) of yeast cell wall (a commercial mycotoxin binder used as reference material). The in vivo efficacy of powdered alfalfa leaves was assessed during a 28-day period. In general, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB(1)-free diet gave the best performance results (body weight, body weight gain, and feed intake) and improved the values of total protein, glucose, calcium, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen. Moreover, the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves in the AFB(1)-contaminated diet enhanced body weight and body weight gain and significantly reduced the feed intake, compared to the AF and AF+YCW groups. Additionally, significant alterations in serum parameters were observed in poults intoxicated with the AFB(1), compared to the Control group. Furthermore, typical histopathological lesions were observed in the liver of the AF group, which were significantly ameliorated with the addition of powdered alfalfa leaves. Conclusively, these results pointed out that low inclusion of powdered alfalfa leaves in the contaminated feed counteracted the adverse effects of AFB(1) in turkey poults.