Impact of intestinal parasites on chicken meat quality and restoration by yogurt supplementation

Abstract

Background: Chicken play a crucial role in human development. It not only serves as a source of energy for the body, but contributes to tissue formation, metabolic processes, organic compound synthesis. In fact, chicken meat is considered a balanced, dietary source of amino acids, making it suitable for use in functional, therapeutic, preventive, and pediatric nutrition. Due to its nutritional value and affordability, chicken meat has become valued across disciplines, from medicine to science to culture. Moreover, it is not subject to national or religious restrictions. Chicken meat qualifies as a functional food because it naturally contains all the essential components needed for human growth and development without the need for additional supplements.

Objectives: This study had two objectives. The first was to compare the nutritional value, completeness, and suitability as a functional food between meat obtained from healthy chickens and chickens infected with intestinal parasites in rural areas of the Republic of Armenia. The second was to determine the effect of yogurt supplementation on the recovery of the infected chickens from the pathologies induced by the intestinal parasites.

Methods: The research was conducted in 2023–2024 in small private poultry farms across various regions of Armenia. Laboratory analyses were performed at the Veterinary and Veterinary-Sanitary Expertise Research Center of the Armenian National Agrarian University. Fecal samples from chickens were analyzed using Fülleborn and Darling flotation methods to detect helminth and Eimeria oocysts. Blood samples taken from chickens before slaughter were analyzed using the Micro CC 20 Plus analyzer. Biochemical analyses of the meat were conducted with the Clima MC-15 biochemical analyzer. Microsoft Excel 2010 was used for statistical analysis of the results.

Results: According to our findings, intestinal parasites have a significant impact on the nutritional value of chicken meat, posing health risks to consumers and resulting in considerable economic losses in poultry farming. Infected birds displayed stunted growth and reduced muscle mass, resulting in diminished meat quality and nutritional value.

Novelty: This research uniquely demonstrates the efficacy of a simple, accessible intervention for intestinal parasites in chickens. Daily supplementation of 20g of cow's milk yogurt for 10 days significantly reverses the detrimental hematological and meat quality alterations caused by infection, including partial restoration of amino acid levels in both breast and thigh meat. This novel application of a standard fermented product offers a cost-effective and sustainable alternative or complementary strategy to conventional anthelmintics, representing a significant innovation in poultry health management.

Conclusion: Meat obtained from chickens infected with intestinal parasites has lower nutritional value and does not meet functional food standards. However, supplementing their diet with 20g of cow’s milk yogurt for 10 consecutive days helps restore almost complete amino acid content in the meat. Although the amino acids present in yogurt were not fully absorbed by the chickens, the yogurt markedly improved the chickens’ intestinal microflora, which enhanced digestion and lead to a recovery of amino acid levels in the chicken meat.

Keywords: helminthiasis, caloric content, poultry, chicken, nutritional value, yogurt supplementation, functional poultry feed, functional food