Aflatoxin (AF) has an important concern in the poultry industry
because of its serious major economic losses and health problems. Natural
alternatives to chemical mycotoxin binders had been used previously as
yeast cell wall. Hence, the present work aimed to study the protective role
of date pits (phoenix dactylifera) seeds against aflatoxicosis in broilers.
Two hundred and ten-one-day old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were allotted
into 7 equal groups as the first control (G1) that supplemented by the basal
diet, the second had the basal diet with date pits supplementation 2%
(DPS2%) group (G2), the third DPS4% group (G3) fed on the basal diet
with date pits 4%, in G4, Aflatoxin (AF) alone was fed a basal diet
containing 100μg aflatoxin/kg feed. G5 (AF+HSCAS), fed on a basal diet
containing Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminum Silicates (HSCAS) 0.3%
plus 100μg aflatoxin/kg feed, AF+DPS2% (G6) fed a basal diet containing
date pits 2% plus 100μg aflatoxin/kg feed, and finally G7 (AF+DPS4%)
fed a basal diet containing date pits 4% plus 100μg aflatoxin/kg feed. The
aflatoxin supplemented to the broiler ration from first day to the end of
experiment at 35 days. Aflatoxins supplementation increased
malondialdehyde levels in liver and muscles, apoptosis of liver cells and
induced histopathological changes in the liver whereas exhibited focal
hepatic necrosis with inflammatory cell infiltration, fatty degeneration of
hepatocytes and congestion of portal vein with fibrocytes proliferation in
portal area. However, addition of date pits (2, 4%) and HSCAS (0.3%) to
broiler's diet ameliorated these negative effects of aflatoxins partially,
indicating that date pits have a protective effect against aflatoxicosis and
this protection is dose-related. Addition of DPS (2 and 4%) gave better
results regarding mortality, lipid peroxidation, antioxidant capacity and
histopathological examination of liver, gave overall compared to HSCAS
concluding that date pits could be used as an effective feed additive to
control aflatoxicosis in poultry avoiding harmful effect of chemical
mycotoxin binders (HSCAS).