VOLUME ISSUE () 1 RESEARCH ARTICLE Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research, Volume Issue : () DR-1646 [1-6] Effect of Boron Supplementation on Bone Mineralization and Antioxidant Status in Broiler Chicken Sanjay K. Pradhan, B. Kumar, Kantesh B. Banakara, R.R. Singh 1 , V.B. Kharadi 1 , S.S. Chaudhary 1 10.18805/ajdfr.DR-1646 ABSTRACT Background: Functionality and requirement of Boron as a trace element in livestock feeding has not been well established. Limited research conducted worldwide suggests B is a trace element known to influence various physiological functions specifically the metabolism of minerals, hormones, immunity and antioxidant defense mechanism; thereby the performance of the birds. The whole grains widely used in poultry diets contain very little boron and currently, there is no definitive information regarding the boron requirement for any class of poultry and inclusion levels are far from standardized. Therefore, the present experiment has been conducted to study the influence of boron on bone mineralization and antioxidant status in broiler. Methods: A total of 240 day-old broiler chicks (Vencob) of mixed sex (avg. BW 47.50±0.26 g) were distributed in a completely randomized design into five treatments each with four replicates of 12 birds (6 of each sex). The dietary treatments involved supplementation of boron at 0 (B-0), 25 (B-25), 50 (B-50), 75 (B-75) and 100 (B-100) mg/kg diet. The birds were offered starter (d 1 to 21) and finisher (d 22 to 42) diet in mash form. At d 42, Whole blood (2 ml) sample was collected for the estimation of total antioxidant status and reduced glutathione by FRAP and DTNB method, respectively. Two birds per replication were selected randomly; sacrificed and right femur bone was collected to measure the bone ash and mineral content. Result: Boron supplementation enhanced the bone ash, calcium and phosphorus content but decreased the manganese and iron content in bone. Supplementation of Boron significantly enhanced (P<0.05) the total antioxidant capacity but lowered the plasma reduced glutathione level. Key words: Boron, Broiler chicken, Bone mineralization, Lipid peroxidation, Total Antioxidant. INTRODUCTION Nutritional supplement and biological significance of Boron as a micronutrient in livestock feeding is not fully explored (NRC, 1994). However, the distinctive chemical properties of B, allow it to form complex with organic molecules containing hydroxyl group; thereby influence cellular activity by interacting with various metabolites (Park et al., 2005). Limited research conducted worldwide suggests B as a trace element known to influence various physiological functions specifically the metabolism of minerals, hormones, immunity and antioxidant defense mechanism (Hunt, 1998; Devirian and Volpe, 2003; Bhasker et al., 2016). For poultry, 2 ppm of B was recommended by NRC (1984) but this recommendation has not been made in the latest feeding standards for poultry (NRC, 1994; ICAR, 2013). Dietary B supplementation has been reported to improve the performances of broiler (Pradhan et al., 2020; Bozkurt et al., 2012; Kucukyilmaz et al., 2017) in terms of body weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Moreover, supplemental B improve bone calcium content in rat (Nielsen, 2004), laying hens (Mizrak et al., 2010) and broiler (Bozkurt et al., 2012). Studies also suggested the influence of boron on metabolism of Ca and P, improved their bioavailability thereby the skeletal development (Armstrong and Spears, 2001; Armstrong et al., 2000). Additionally, boron deficiency caused insufficient growth and abnormal bone development (Naghii, 1999) in poultry. Besides studies also confirmed the ameliorative effect of boron on oxidative stress (Zafar and Ali, 2013; Ince et al., 2010; Coban et al., 2015) by increasing the antioxidant activities. Albeit several studies conducted with broiler chickens (Eliot and Edwards, 1992; Rossi et al., 1993; Kurtoglu et al., 2001; Fassani et al., 2004; Bozkurt et al., 2012; Eren et al., 2012; Cinar et al., 2015) there is no current definitive information regarding the boron requirement for any class of poultry and inclusion levels are far from standardized and ranged between 5 to 400 mg/kg diet (Bozkurt and Kucukyilmaz et al., 2015) Department of Animal Science, N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India. 1 College of Veterinary Science and A.H., Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India. Corresponding Author: Sanjay K. Pradhan, Department of Animal Science, N.M. College of Agriculture, Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari-396 450, Gujarat, India. Email: sanjaypradhanm24@gmail.com How to cite this article: Pradhan, S.K., Kumar, B., Banakara, K.B., Singh, R.R., Kharadi, V.B., Chaudhary, S.S. (2021). Effect of Boron Supplementation on Bone Mineralization and Antioxidant Status in Broiler Chicken. Asian Journal of Dairy and Food Research. DOI: 10.18805/ajdfr.DR-1646. Submitted: 22-03-2021 Accepted: 26-05-2021 Online: 21-06-2021