Effects of a blend of thyme, peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils on growth performance, serum lipid and hepatic enzyme indices, immune response and ileal morphology and microflora in broilers

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of a blend of essential oils (EOB) derived from thyme (Thymus vulgaris), peppermint (Mentha piperita) and eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globules) as a natural growth promoter. Five dosages (0 (CON), 50, 100, 150 and 200 ppm) of EOB were added daily to the drinking water to determine its effect on growth performance, carcass quality, blood biochemistry, immune response and ileal morphology in Ross 308 broiler chicks. A total of 500, 10‐day‐old male Ross 308 broilers were allocated into five treatments with four replicates each. Inclusion of EOB at 150 ppm improved (p < 0.05) body weight gain, feed conversion ratio and production index by 11.73, 10.81 and 24.13% compared to CON respectively. The inclusion of EOB at 100, 150 and 200 ppm increased (p < 0.05) carcass yield and thigh muscle compared to CON. Serum concentration of hepatic enzymes (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase) was decreased while the ileal villus height and ratio of villus height to crypt depth were improved (p < 0.05) in response to inclusion of 150 and 200 ppm of EOB compared to CON. The ileal Escherichia coli count was lower and Lactobacillus count was higher in EOB‐200 and EOB‐150, respectively, compared to CON at 21 and 42 days of age (p < 0.05). Antibody titre of Newcastle, bronchitis and infectious bursal disease was linearly increased (p < 0.05) by increasing supplemental level of EOB at day 4 post‐inoculation. Our results suggested that supplementation of EOB at the 150 ppm into drinking water during day 11–42 could improve growth performance, humoral immunity and ileal morphology and microflora in broilers, and thus, EOB has merit to be used as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters.

Effects of Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide in diet on growth performance, serum antioxidant capacity, and biochemistry of broilers

“…Besides, some studies have reported that the activity of digestive enzymes was increased by herbal extracts ( Zahran et al., 2014 ; Long et al., 2020 ). In addition, herbal extracts may also increase digestibility by changing intestinal flora ( Cross et al., 2007 ; Liu et al., 2018 ; Hesabi Nameghi et al., 2019 ). Therefore, additional studies focusing on the effects of GCP on growth performance of chickens are still needed.…”

Consequences of various housing systems and dietary supplementation of thymol, carvacrol, and euganol on performance, egg quality, blood chemistry, and antioxidant parameters

“…Laying hens showed high antibody titer levels to ND when their diets were supplemented with EOs ( Özek et al., 2011 ). The inclusion of EOs or bioactive components in drinking water of the broilers augmented the antibody titres against infectious bursal disease, IBV, and ND vaccines ( Farag and Alagawany, 2019 ; Hesabi Nameghi et al., 2019 ). The bioactive compounds of EOs might have been responsible for the raised antibody titres against the experimental antigens ( Recoqillay, 2006 ).…”

Artemisia annua L. aqueous extract as an alternative to antibiotics improving growth performance and antioxidant function in broilers

“…Plant products, such as cinnamaldehyde, thymol, turmeric and ginkgo biloba have many beneficial biological functions, including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer and immunomodulatory effects (Kim et al 2014;Niu et al 2019;Attia et al 2019a). Phytogenic feed additive, as an alternative to antibiotics, improved growth performance, immune response, and intestine morphology and microflora and reduced gas emission in excreta without a detrimental effect on meat quality in chickens (Attia et al 2018;Hesabi Nameghi et al 2019).…”