Background: The contamination of poultry feed with Aflatoxins (AF) is important in terms of economic damage to the poultry industry and public health. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of Turmeric Powder (TP), containing 2.96% of Total Curcuminoids (TCM) on reducing the adverse effects of dietary AF in Japanese quails. Methods: 180 male Japanese quails aged 22-55 days were divided into six groups, and were fed basic diet (group 1, controls), or basic diet contaminated with 4 mg/kg AF and/or TP doses as follows: 3 g/kg TP (group 2), 5 g/kg TP (group 3), 4 mg/kg AF (group 4), 4 mg/kg AF and 3 g/kg TP (group 5) or 4 mg/kg AF and 5 g/kg TP (group 6). Results: Adding TP to the quails diet that contained AF improved the liver antioxidant status, reduced Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration, increased the serum SOD and CAT enzyme levels and improved the total antioxidant capacity (P<0.05). The addition of TP significantly reduced the adverse effects of AF on body weight loss, relative liver weight gain, decreased serum total protein, and increased the AST, ALT and ALP enzyme activities. It also reduced the severity of liver histological pathologies, such as fatty changes, biliary duct proliferation, periportal fibrosis, hyperemia, and leukocyte infiltration. Conclusion: The effect of TP on reducing the adverse effects of dietary AF may be attributed to its antioxidant properties. The AF-contaminated diet containing 5 g/kg TP (148 mg/kg TCM) was more effective in reducing the AF complications in the quails compared to 3 g/kg of TP (88.8 mg/kg TCM).

Consumption of poultry products contaminated with Salmonella is one of the major causes of foodborne diseases worldwide and therefore detection and differentiation of Salmonella spp. in poultry is important. In this study, oligonucleotide primers were designed from hemD gene and a PCR followed by high-resolution melt (HRM) curve analysis was developed for rapid differentiation of Salmonella isolates. Amplicons of 228 bp were generated from 16 different Salmonella reference strains and from 65 clinical field isolates mainly from poultry farms. HRM curve analysis of the amplicons differentiated Salmonella isolates and analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the amplicons from selected isolates revealed that each melting curve profile was related to a unique DNA sequence. The relationship between reference strains and tested specimens was also evaluated using a mathematical model without visual interpretation of HRM curves. In addition, the potential of the PCR-HRM curve analysis was evaluated for genotyping of additional Salmonella isolates from different avian species. The findings indicate that PCR followed by HRM curve analysis provides a rapid and robust technique for genotyping of Salmonella isolates to determine the serovar/serotype.