Effect of dietary coated granules containing garlic oil diallyl disulphide and diallyl trisulphide on performance, in vitro digestibility and gastrointestinal functionality in laying hens

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with coated granules (CG) on performance, in vitro digestibility and the gastrointestinal functionality in laying hens. A total of 40 Hisex Brown laying hens (36 weeks of age) were randomly divided into five equal groups; one served as a control and the other four were actual experimental groups supplemented with 0.75, 1.5, 3 or 6 g CG per day. All the hens were fed restrictively with target feed intake of 100 g basal diet/hen per day. There were no differences in egg production or egg weight among the groups, but feed conversion ratio was significantly improved (linearly, p < 0.05) with the dose level of CG in diet. Dietary CG increased the jejunal weight (linear and quadratic terms, p < 0.05) but decreased the ileal weight (linearly, p < 0.05). There was mostly statistical interaction between dietary CG and specific activity of intestinal digestive enzymes with similar patterns for dietary CG treatments (p < 0.05). A positive linear correlation was observed with in vitro protein digestibility by using the crude enzyme extract from dietary CG supplementation. Dietary CG decreased the caecal Escherichia coli population while the Lactobacillus spp.: E. coli ratio increased (quadratic fit, p < 0.05). CG supplementation, on the other hand, significantly altered intestinal morphology by increasing the height of duodenal and ileal villi (linearly, p < 0.05). Also, duodenal antioxidant capacity observed via remaining reducing power improved linearly (p < 0.05). This suggests that CG, unlike garlic oils without encapsulation, may be a good candidate for feed supplementation in commercial egg production. It could be included up to 6 g CG per day without any adverse effects on performance, which may relate to improving nutrient digestibility and better utilization of limited feed intake when using a low amount of diet or other observations in this study.

Detection of Antibiotic Resistance in Feline-Origin ESBL Escherichia coli from Different Areas of China and the Resistance Elimination of Garlic Oil to Cefquinome on ESBL E. coli

“…As previous studies found, garlic oil exhibited great antibacterial activity in vivo and vitro [40][41][42], and the activity was also verified in this study. However, unexpectedly, we found that garlic oil exhibited potent potentiation (4-to 16-fold) of the effectiveness of cefquinome against ESBL E. coli in a stable concentration (256~1024 µg/mL).…”

Essential Oils as a Dietary Additive for Laying Hens: Performance, Egg Quality, Antioxidant Status, and Intestinal Morphology: A Meta-Analysis

“…In laying hens, it has been reported that the dietary inclusion of EOs increases the secretion of digestive enzymes (chymotrypsin, lipase, and α-amylase) [2,24] and the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, and ether extract [23,38]. In the present study, increased VH was observed in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum in response to EO supplementation.…”

“…Furthermore, Cheng et al [10] reported up to 18 and 20% higher serum concentrations of immunoglobulin G and interleukin-2 in laying hens supplemented with EOs. Likewise, previous studies [2,49] also detected that dietary supplementation with EOs decreased the count of bacteria Salmonella sp. and Escherichia coli in the small intestine and cecum of laying hens between 17 and 26%.…”

“…Eggs from laying hens are a high-quality food because they contain nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, and lipids, which are important in human nutrition [1]. Currently, the demand for eggs from laying hens has increased due to the increase in the human population worldwide [2]. However, laying hens in commercial environments are frequently exposed to a wide variety of stressors such as nutritional (presence of oxidized fats or mycotoxins in the feed), environmental (i.e., heat or cold stress), and physiological (e.g., high rate of egg production and aging) [3,4].…”