Comparative Efficacy of Selected Phytobiotics with Halquinol and Tetracycline on Gut Morphology, Ileal Digestibility, Cecal Microbiota Composition and Growth Performance in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The current experiment was designed to estimate the comparative efficacy of selected phytobiotics Persicaria odorata leaf meal (POLM) and Piper betle leaf meal (PBLM) with halquinol, and tetracycline in broiler chickens. The 150-day-old broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five dietary groups. The dietary supplementation groups were the basal diet (BD), which served as the negative control (NC), and BD + 0.2 g/kg tetracycline, which served as the positive control (PC); BD + 0.03 g/kg halquinol (HAL), BD + 8 g/kg POLM (Po8), and BD + 4 g/kg PBLM (Pb4) were the treatment groups. Growth performance, gut morphology, ileal digestibility, and cecal microbiota composition were measured. On day 21, the body weight gain (BWG) was enhanced (p < 0.05) in the broiler chickens fed on phytobiotics (Po8 and Pb4) relative to the NC group, however, on day 42 and in terms of overall growth performance, BWG was enhanced (p < 0.05 in diets (Po8, Pb4, HAL and PC) in comparison with the NC group. Conversely, feed conversion ratio (FCR) was recorded reduced (p < 0.05) in Pb4, Po8, HAL, and PC group in comparison with the NC group. Supplementation of phytobiotics (Po8 and Pb4), HAL and PC, positively improved the gut morphology compared to the NC group. Furthermore, the maximum (p < 0.05) villus height (VH) in duodenum and jejunum was observed in broilers fed on diet Pb4. Supplementation of phytobiotics, HAL and PC, improved (p < 0.05) the digestibility of dry matter (DM) (except for HAL), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), and ash compared to the NC group. Dietary supplementation of phytobiotics (Po8 and Pb4), HAL and PC, significantly reduced the E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus (except for HAL) counts compared to the NC group. However, supplementation of Pb4 resulted in significantly decreased total anaerobic bacteria and Clostridium spp. counts compared to the NC group. In addition, supplementation of phytobiotics significantly increased the Lactobacillus count compared to HAL, PC, and NC groups. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of phytobiotics improved the gut morphology, positively modulated and maintained the dynamics of cecal microbiota with enhanced nutrient digestibility, thus, increased the growth performance. Based on current results, phytobiotics could be used as an alternative to AGPs for sustainable broiler chicken production.

Phytochemical composition of Capsicum frutescens and its effect on body weight and carcass yield of Cobb500 broilers

“…Particularly, unlike for C. frutescens as observed in this study, no effects on proventriculus weights have been reported in the case of C. annuum, (Islam et al, 2018). Besides Capsicums, other phytogenics whose effects on internal organs of chicken have been investigated include Myristica fragrans (Adu et al, 2020), Persicaria odorata (Basit et al, 2020), fenugreek seeds (Hashim et al, 2019), paw paw latex (Haruna and Odunsi, 2018), ginger (Qorbanpour et al, 2018) and garlic (Islam et al, 2018). Positive effects on proventriculus have been reported for garlic when used at 0.75% whereas no influence on weights of internal organs has been observed for Myrisitca fragrans and Persicraia odorata (Islam et al, 2018;Adu et al, 2020;Basit et al, 2020).…”

“…Besides Capsicums, other phytogenics whose effects on internal organs of chicken have been investigated include Myristica fragrans (Adu et al, 2020), Persicaria odorata (Basit et al, 2020), fenugreek seeds (Hashim et al, 2019), paw paw latex (Haruna and Odunsi, 2018), ginger (Qorbanpour et al, 2018) and garlic (Islam et al, 2018). Positive effects on proventriculus have been reported for garlic when used at 0.75% whereas no influence on weights of internal organs has been observed for Myrisitca fragrans and Persicraia odorata (Islam et al, 2018;Adu et al, 2020;Basit et al, 2020). In contrast, negative effects have been noted with respect to lowering giblets percentage in the case of fenugreek seeds (Hashim et al, 2019) and hypertrophy of gizzard, liver and intestines associated with paw paw latex (Haruna and Odunsi, 2018).…”

Beneficial Shifts in the Gut Bacterial Community of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Juveniles Supplemented with Allium-Derived Compound Propyl Propane Thiosulfonate (PTSO)

“…Phytogenics contain active ingredients with interesting functional properties such as antimicrobial activity, avoiding the adhesion of pathogens to intestinal mucosa and modulating gut microbiota [ 11 , 12 ]. Therefore, phytogenics can minimize the risk of development of pathogens [ 12 ], and the changes in digestive function induce the growth of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus or bifidobacteria [ 13 , 14 ].…”

The Modulatory Effects of Alfalfa Polysaccharide on Intestinal Microbiota and Systemic health of Salmonella-challenged broilers

“…Then, 30 mL of preculture was prepared by picking a single colony into sterile pre-warmed tryptone soy broth and incubating the mixture at 37 °C with orbital shaking for 24 h. Subsequently, 10 mL of Salmonella enteritidis preculture was transferred into 300 mL of sterile tryptone soy broth, and the mixture was incubated in an orbital shaker at 37 °C for 16 h. The number of colony-forming units (CFU) was determined with a tenfold dilution series in sterile buffered 0.9% peptone water with a pH of 7.2. The stock culture was adjusted to 1 × 10 7 CFU by centrifuging at 3,000 rpm and 4 °C for 10 min40 . The Salmonella solution was freshly prepared before oral gavage.…”

“…The Salmonella solution was freshly prepared before oral gavage. A pilot trial was conducted to ascertain the appropriate dose administrated to broilers40 (Supplement 1. pilot trial).…”