Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014.

31 (3) : 293-296 Indian Journal of

Animal Nutrition

Effect of Aloe Vera (Aloe barbadensis) and Clove (Syzigium aromaticum)

Supplementation on Immune Status, Haematological and Serum Biochemical
Parameters in Japanese Quails
H. Tariq*, P.V. Raman Rao, B.C. Mondal and B.A. Malla
Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,
G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar-263145, Uttrakhand, India

ABSTRACT
A study was conducted on 120 Japanese quails to study the effect of Aloe vera and clove on serum
biochemical, haematological and immunological parameters. The experiment lasted for 35 days in which
Japanese quails were randomly divided into four treatment groups, each group having three replications
consisting of ten birds each. All the birds (starter and finisher) were fed according to requirements. The birds
in control group (T1) were given no supplement whereas in treatments T2, T3 and T4, birds were supplemented
with Aloe vera leaf powder, clove and mixture of both (powdered form) at 0.5, 0.5 and 0.25+0.25% of feed,
respectively. Haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, total erythrocyte count and total leucocyte
count, serum protein, albumin, globulin, albumin-globulin ratio, glucose, triglycerides were not affected by
Aloe vera and clove supplementation. Immune response as revealed by delayed type of hypersensitivity
(measurement of skin thickness) and serum immunoglobulin were improved in all the three supplemented
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groups. It could be concluded that Aloe vera and clove supplementation through feed improved immune status
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of Japanese quails without affecting haematological and serum biochemical parameters.

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Key words: Aloe vera, clove, Japanese quails, Blood biochemical parameters, Immunoglobulin

INTRODUCTION roles in animal system. Chemistry of the plant revealed

The use of antibiotics as growth promoters (AGP)
in animal feeds has been reported to improve growth
performance and feed efficiency in the intensive
poultry industry but due to antimicrobial resistance, a
ban has been put on the use of AGP. The poultry
industry is already using alternative products that help
optimal growth in broiler chickens. It has been shown
that under optimal production conditions, it was possible
to reach competitive growth results without the use of
AGP. However, poultry rearing is not always done
under optimal conditions and more research on
alternatives to AGP is required. Different substances
have been studied as alternatives to AGP in broiler
chicken production such as probiotics and prebiotics,
acidifiers, immunomodulating agents and essential oils
or plant extracts.
The medicinal plants, spices and herbs have been
used in the diet as growth promoters in poultry (Tripathi
et al., 2013). Aloe vera is a unique plant which is a rich
source of many chemical compounds and plays various
*Corresponding author: DCN Division, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal-132001, Haryana, India (E mail: hujaztak@gmail.com)
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Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014. 31 (3) : 293-296
the presence of more than 200 different biologically
active substances including vitamins, minerals, enzymes,
sugars, anthraquinones or phenolic compounds, lignin,
saponins, sterols, amino acids and salicylic acid (Coats,
1997). Aloe vera has antibacterial activity against
various pathogenic bacteria particularly gram positive
bacteria. Hence, it can be used for medication,
cosmetic and food purposes (Suleyman and Sema, 2009).
Phenolic compounds such as carvacrol, thymol,
eugenol etc. are the most commonly used essential oils
as additives in animal feeding because of the their
antimicrobial activity. Eugenol is the main compound
(72-90%) in Syzigium aromaticum (clove). Clove and
its essential oil is one of the plant extracts that has been
found effective in broilers to improve growth
performance (Najafi and Torki, 2010) and to control some
intestinal pathogens (Ordonez et al., 2008). There is
scanty information on use of such compounds in
quails. Hence, the present experiment was conducted
to study the effect of Aloe vera and clove powder
 Tariq et al.
supplementation on some serum biochemical and
immunological parameters in Japanese quails.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
One hundred twenty day old Japanese quail chicks
(Coturnix coturnix japonica) belonging to the same
hatch were reared at Instructional Poultry Farm, G.B.
P.U.A. & T., Pantnagar, Uttrakhand, India. After one
week of brooding period, chicks were used for feeding
trial. All the chicks were divided into 4 treatments of 3
replicates containing 10 chicks in each replicate. The
birds in all the groups were fed broiler feed as per the
specifications (BIS, 1992). The birds in control group
(T1) were given no supplement whereas in treatments
T2, T3 and T4, birds were supplemented with Aloe vera
leaf powder, clove and mixture of both (powdered form)
at 0.5, 0.5 and 0.25+0.25% of feed, respectively. Blood
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samples were collected from two birds from each
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replicate at the end (35th) day of experimental feeding
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trial. Approximately, 1.5 ml of blood was collected
aseptically from the wing vein in sterilized disposable
syringes (24 gauge needle). Out of the whole blood
collected, 0.5 ml of blood was transferred to the vials
containing EDTA and it was used for haemogobin (Hb),
packed cell volume (PCV), total erythrocyte count (TEC)
and total leucocyte count (TLC). Hb concentration was
estimated by using Sahli’s haemoglobinometer with acid
haematin method. PCV was estimated using micro
haematocrit method as described by Sharma and Singh
(2000). TEC was done by using Neubauer’s counting
chamber as described by Natt and Herrick (1952). TLC
was performed with Neubauer’s chamber (Jain, 1986)
using Thomas diluting fluid (2 ml glacial acetic acid, 1
ml of 1% Gentian violet in 100 ml distilled water).
Estimation of glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, total
Table 1. Chemical composition of feeds (% DM basis)
Parameter Starter diet
T1 T2 T3
Crude protein 23.23 23.53 23.29
Crude fibre 5.01 5.22 5.13
Ether extract 3.78 3.98 3.87
Total ash 7.01 6.81 7.19
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Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014. 31 (3) : 293-296
protein and albumen was done using kits (Span
Diagnostics Ltd.). The albumin content was deducted
from total protein to reach at globulin level.
On 21st day of experiment, six birds from each
group were selected for cell mediated immune response
study using delayed type of hypersensitivity reaction to
2, 4 dinitro-chloro benzene as per method adopted by
Tiwary and Goel (1985) with slight modification. Total
serum immunoglobulin was estimated by using zinc
sulphate turbidity test (Mondesire, 2004). The data were
analysed using completely randomized design (Snedecor
and Cochran, 1994).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The chemical composition of different diets
has been presented in Table 1. The values of average
skin thickness and total serum immunoglobulin
concentration (mg/dl) in different groups of Japanese
quails have been presented in Table 2. Cell mediated
immune response showed a significant (P<0.01)
positive effect of both Aloe vera and clove powder
supplementation as mean skin thickness values in T2, T3
and T4 groups were found to be significantly (P<0.01)
higher than those in T1 group, however, the values were
similar in T2, T3 and T4 groups. Supplementation of Aloe
vera and clove powder in treatment groups T2, T3 and
T 4 also caused significant (P<0.05) increase in
concentration of total serum immunoglobulin as
compared to control T1 group. These findings indicated
the immunomodulatory role of Aloe vera and clove as
feed supplements in Japanese quails. The results are in
accordance with Chinnah et al. (1992) and Valle-paraso
et al. (2005) who reported that Aloe vera gel and
polysaccharide in Aloe vera (acemannan) could improve
the immune response in broilers. Mehala and Moorthy
Finisher diet
T4 T1 T2 T3 T4
23.33 21.23 21.43 21.31 21.16
4.86 5.82 5.63 5.14 5.28
4.02 3.67 3.89 3.99 3.86
7.29 7.42 7.31 7.81 7.37
 Effect of Aloe vera and clove supplementation on blood biochemical parameters in Japanese quails

Table 2. Effect of Aloe vera and clove powder supplementation on immunological and serum
biochemical profile of Japanese quails
Treatment Parameter
Skin Serum Total Albumin Globulin A/G Glucose Trigly- Choles-
thickness immuno- serum (g/dl) (g/dl) ratio (mg/dl) rcerides terol
(mm) globulin protein (mg/dl) (mg/dl)
(mg/dl) (g/dl)
T1 1.78b±0.11 2.40b±0.03 4.29±0.23 1.34±0.06 2.96±0.20 0.45±0.03 128.88±1.85 144.33±2.67 149.97±1.85
T2 2.24a±0.06 2.67a±0.01 4.50±0.24 1.28±0.03 3.17±0.25 0.41±0.04 121.37±1.99 143.67±3.53 137.17±1.99
a a
T3 2.28 ±0.03 2.68 ±0.03 4.34±0.35 1.18±0.13 3.17±0.24 0.37±0.03 128.66±1.95 142.85±2.43 145.60±1.95
a a
T4 2.22 ±0.03 2.67 ±0.02 4.38±0.42 1.28±0.10 3.10±0.26 0.41±0.02 128.06±2.04 143.67±2.91 143.48±2.04
a,b
Values with different superscripts in a row differ significantly (P<0.05)

(2008) reported significant rise in titre value against also reported non-significant difference in total serum
Newcastle disease when Aloe vera was included protein, serum albumin, serum globulin, albumin-
separately at 0.1 and 0.2% level in broiler diet. globulin ratio, glucose, cholesterol and triglyceridevalue
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Jagadeeswaran (2007) also reported that Aloe vera (1.0 in broilers supplemented with Aloe vera in feed. There
was no significant effect of supplementation with
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and 0.1%) fed groups showed significantly (P<0.05)

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higher titre values against Newcastle disease in broiler
chickens at six weeks of age. Similarly, Najafi and Torki
(2010) studied effect of supplementing essential oils of
thyme, cinnamon, clove @ 200 mg/kg and found
significant difference (P<0.05) between clove and
control group on 9th day. However, secondary antibody
response was not affected by dietary inclusion of
essential oil.
The values of total protein, serum albumin, serum
globulin, albumin-globulin ratio, glucose, cholesterol and
triglyceride were also similar in all the treatments
indicating that supplementation of Aloe vera, clove or
their combination did not have any significant effect on
these parameters. (Table 2). Mehala and Moorthy (2008)
essential oil thyme, cinnamon and clove either in
broilers (Najafi and Torki, 2010) or Turkey (Ognik and
Merska, 2012). There was no significant effect of
supplementation of Aloe vera and clove powder
on haematological attributes viz., TEC, TLC, Hb,
PCV, MCV, MCH and MCHC at 42 days of age in
Japanese quails (Table 3) which is in agreement with
the results of Mmereole (2011) and Najafi and Torki
(2010).
CONCLUSION
Supplementation of either Aloe vera or clove
powder or both could improve the immune status of
Japanese quails without any significant effect on
haematological and serum biochemical profile.

Table 3. Effect of Aloe vera and clove powder supplementation on haematological profile of Japanese
quails
Treatment Parameter
TEC TLC PCV Haemoglobin MCV MCH MCHC
(106/µl) (103/µl) (%) (g/dl) (fl) (pg) (%)
T1 3.71 ±0.03 23.29 ±0.63 35.57 ±0.67 11.67 ±0.26 95.91 ±2.61 31.47 ±0.99 32.80 ±0.47
T2 3.78 ±0.03 23.51 ±0.64 37.57 ±0.01 12 .43 ±0.35 99.35 ±1.84 32.88 ±0.65 33.09 ±0.11
T3 3.83 ±0.04 23.73 ±0.33 38.33 ±0.73 12.70 ±0.21 100.06 ±2.85 33.15 ±0.85 33.13 ±0.10
T4 3.79 ±0.04 23.43 ±0.21 37.10 ±0.92 12.37 ±0.42 97.93 ±3.05 32.65 ±1.33 33.32 ±0.32

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Indian J. Anim. Nutr. 2014. 31 (3) : 293-296
 Tariq et al.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The financial assistance and facilities provided
by Vice-Chancellor, G.B.P.U.A. & T, Pantnagar,
Uttrakhand are duly acknowledged.
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