Oregano essential oil as food additive for piglets: antimicrobial and antioxidant potential

Abstract

-This study aimed to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of oregano essential oil on the performance and on the occurrence of diarrhea in weanling pigs, as well as its antioxidant and antimicrobial activity evaluated in vitro. It was compared four treatments (diets): negative control; positive control, 0.5% ZnO (preventive diarrhea) + 0.05% zinc acitracin (growth promoter); or 0.003% of essential oil of oregano, combined or not with preventive of diarrhea.Weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion were evaluated from 27 (weaning) to 62 days of age of the animals, and the occurrence of diarrhea was evaluated on the first 14 days of the experiment. The positive control diet and the oregano oil + zinc oxide diet were the ones that provided the best zootechnical performance. The number of piglets with diarrhea, as well as the duration of diarrhea, were lower in animals fed positive control and oregano oil + zinc oxide diets. Oregano oil had in vitro bacteriostatic action on all the tested microorganisms and bactericidal action against four bacteria. The in vitro antioxidant activity of oregano oil was 98.88% through linoleic acid/β-carotene system methodology, and 174.17 mg/mL by the DPPH method, expressed as CE 50 . Oregano oil shows potent antioxidant effect and a strong antimicrobial activity, however, it does not improve the zootechnical performance neither it is efficient in preventing diarrhea in weanling pigs.

Phytobiotics from Oregano Extracts Enhance the Intestinal Health and Growth Performance of Pigs

“…In this study, the addition of phytobiotics reduced the concentration of protein carbonyl in the plasma of pigs during the nursery and growing period. These results confirmed the antioxidant properties of oregano-based phytobiotics, as previously reported [ 32 , 35 , 42 ]. According to Zou et al [ 32 ], oregano essential oil diminished the oxidative stress in IPEC-J2 cells by inducing the expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD1) and glutathione through the activation of nuclear-factor-erythroid-2-related factor-2 (Nrf2), which can be one of the anti-oxidant modes of action of oregano-based phytobiotics.…”

Determination of carcase yield, sensory and acceptance of meat from male and female pigs with dietary supplementation of oregano essential oils

“…Several studies have been conducted using OEO, alone or mixed with other spices and plants, to supplement the diet of weaning pigs and finishing birds, or to use it as an ingredient in meat products to add or enhance functional properties. The results are inconsistent, possibly caused by the origin of the essential oils or herb species, the quantity added to the feed, or the environmental conditions used in the trial, to name a few (Henn et al 2010;Zeng et al 2015). But probably one of the most important factors is the content of carvacrol in the essential oils used as it differs between oregano species (Teixeira et al 2013;Mechergui et al 2016).…”

Effects of oregano essential oil as an antibiotic growth promoter alternative on growth performance, antioxidant status, and intestinal health of broilers

“…(2009) testified the antimicrobial effects of carvacrol and thymol isolated from oregano on many kinds of bacteria including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans in vitro. Furthermore, another experiment showed that OEO had inhibited the oxidant of fatty acids except for antimicrobial activity on Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and Clostridium perfringens ( Henn et al., 2010 ).…”