Effect of supplementing feed with oregano and/or α-tocopheryl acetate on growth of broiler chickens and oxidative stability of meat

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to examine the effect of supplementing feed with oregano and/or α-tocopheryl acetate on growth performance of broiler chickens and the oxidative stability of breast and thigh meat. A total of 6300 one-day old Cobb-500 chickens were randomly allocated into 7 equal groups with three subgroups of 150 males and 150 females each. One of the groups was given a basal diet containing 30 mg α-tocopheryl acetate/kg feed (negative control group), whereas the other six groups were administered the basal diet supplemented further with dehydrated oregano plants at 5 g/kg (OR5 group) and 10 g/kg (OR10 group), dehydrated oregano plants at 5 or 10 g/kg plus 170 mg/kg α-tocopheryl acetate (OR5-TOC and OR10-TOC group, respectively), α-tocopheryl acetate at 170 mg/kg (TOC group), and flavomycin at 4 mg/kg plus lasalocid at 75 mg/kg (FLA-LAS positive control group). After 42 days of feeding, values of body weight, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio showed that oregano given as single supplement at the level of 5 g/kg or in combination with α-tocopheryl acetate could serve as an alternative to the approved feed additives flavomycin and lasalocid, exerting a growth-promoting effect. Feed supplementation with oregano decreased malondialdehyde values in meat samples compared with the control, the supplementation level of 5 g/kg being more effective in retarding lipid oxidation compared with 10 g/kg. The antioxidant activity offered by oregano was, however, inferior to that exhibited by α-tocopheryl acetate supplementation, while the antioxidant activity presented by the combination of 5 g/kg oregano and α-tocopheryl acetate was higher than that presented by α-tocopheryl acetate when supplemented alone or in combination with 10 g/kg oregano. Thigh meat samples were found to be more susceptible to oxidation compared with breast meat, although the latter contained α-tocopherol at markedly lower levels.

Effects of oregano essential oil and attapulgite on growth performance, intestinal microbiota and morphometry in broilers

“…Similarly, it has been shown that essential oil compounds improved the performance of chickens at various levels of supplementation alone (Giannenas et al, 2003;Giannenas et al, 2005;Giannenas et al, 2013) or in combination with organic acids in chicken and turkeys (Giannenas et al, 2014a;2014b). Similar results were found by Windisch et al (2008) and Bozkurt et al (2012), who reported improved weight gain of broilers fed diets supplemented with essential oils, mainly OEO, which are rich in carvacrol and thymol.…”

The effects of benzoic acid and essential oil compounds in combination with protease on the performance of chickens

“…In addition to organic acids, plant extracts offer a unique opportunity in this regard (Giannenas et al, 2005), as many plants produce secondary metabolites, such as saponins, tannins and polyphenols, which have antimicrobial properties. Essential oils (EO), plant extracts and certain herbs might be interesting alternative feed supplements to antibiotic growth promoters (Franz et al, 2010).…”

“…In recent years, many herbal plants such as rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano and tea or their extracts have attracted wide research interest due to their antioxidative, antibacterial and antifungal properties (Giannenas et al, 2003(Giannenas et al, , 2005 that are attributed to a great variety of phenolic compounds occurring in these plants. Moreover, thymol has intrinsic bioactivities on animal physiology and metabolism and, therefore, could have antioxidant activity in chicken meat when supplemented in the feed (Giannenas et al, 2005).…”

Kuzu Rasyonuna İlave Edilen Kekik Yağının Performans, Bazı Kan Parametreleri İle Et ve Karaciğer Dokularında Antioksidan Metabolizma Üzerine Etkisi

“…Almost all of the studies made to determine the antioxidant properties of oregano essential oil have been related to the LPO ratio [32,33] . In order to fully explain the mechanism the antioxidant effect of oregano essential oil must determine the rates of LPO and GSH with the SOD and CAT activities.…”