Nutritional Comparison of Different Levels of Pomegranate Peel Extracts on Production Values and Performance in Female Rabbits

Abstract

Pomegranates (Punicagranatum) are common plants that are related to the Lythraceae family. These plants and their extracts have used in medicinal properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial activities. The present study carried out for 75 days and used 24of local-breed female rabbits that were aged 6 - 8 months. These animals were divided into three equal groups, each includes 8 females. The pomegranate peel extracts (PPE) were prepared and reached two aqueous concentrations, which are 200 and 100 mg/ml (w/v) for each group. This study indicated using PPE at 100 mg/ml orally led to significant effects more than 200 mg/ml, which were applied to the female rabbits. The parameters showed improvement of the body weight and gain, FCR values and feed intake at a low dose.However, the high dose of PPE had no significant difference in the trials of growth performance compared to control. Furthermore, the low dose of PPE illustrated an interesting impact of the pH values in the stomach and caecum. Nonetheless, this study reported that the administration of PPE orally led to a significant decrease in total counting of two pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella spp.In conclusion, the 100 mg/ml of PPE may promote the production and performance of the female rabbits.