Growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of quails fed diets containing Helichrysum italicum essential oil.

In recent years, essential oils have gained significance as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in poultry nutrition, owing to their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and growth-promoting properties. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Helichrysum italicum essential oil (HEO) on growth performance, carcass and internal organ characteristics, meat quality, and selected blood parameters in Japanese quails. Four hundred one-day-old quails were divided into five treatment groups, each consisting of four replicates with 20 birds per replicate. While one group was fed a basal diet with no additives (control), the other groups were fed diets with HEO at 50 (HEO50), 100 (HEO100), 150 (HEO150), or 200 (HEO200) ppm/kg for 42 days. Overall, the control quails consumed more feed than all HEO groups and had higher FCR than the HEO150 and HEO200 groups (p < 0.05). The carcass yield of quails in the HEO150 and HEO200 groups was higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The control group had a lower relative breast muscle weight than the HEO50, HEO100, and HEO200 groups (p < 0.05). Relative drumstick muscle weight in the control and HEO50 quails was lower than that in the HEO100 group (p < 0.05). The HEO200 diet increased pancreas weight and the length of the large intestine (p < 0.05). Dietary HEO did not affect the studied meat quality or serum parameters. Consequently, supplementing quail diets with 200 ppm HEO resulted in enhanced performance and carcass characteristics, without any discernible impact on meat quality.