The Effects of Licorice (Glycyrrhriza glabra) Root on Performance, Some Serum Parameters and Antioxidant Capacity of Laying Hens

The current study was conducted to determine the effects of the licorice root (Glycyrrhriza glabra) in laying hens diets on performance, egg cholesterol, some plasma parameters and antioxidant capacity. One hundred, 40-week old laying hens were divided into four groups, each group consisted of 25 hens and were placed in individual cages. The mean of the initial body weight of laying hens was 1829.18 +/- 9.595 g. Commercial laying hen diet was supplemented with 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% levels of licorice root powder and four different dietary groups were formed. From the experimental findings, it was ascertained that the licorice root supplementation had no significant effect on egg weight and feed conversion ratio (p>0.05), but feed consumption decreased with increasing licorice root (p<0.05).Egg yield was recorded as 88.94%, 89.56%, 86.82% and 85.02% in the groups of 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0, respectively (p<0.05).Plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) and egg yolk cholesterol level decreased with the addition of licorice root, while plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) level was increased with licorice root addition (p