Impact of Fennel Essential Oil as an Antibiotic Alternative in Rabbit Diet on Antioxidant Enzymes Levels, Growth Performance, and Meat Quality

Abstract

In the current study, fennel essential oil was used as an antibiotic alternative compared to gentamycin for enhancing the expression of apoptosis genes and antioxidant enzymes in weaned rabbits as well as meat quality and growth performance. The gene expression of the cell lymphoma 2 (BAX and BCL2), caspase3 (CASP3), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX1) were estimated in the liver tissue using qRT-PCR. A total of 45 Moshtohor weaned male rabbits aged four weeks were randomly allocated to control, T1, and T2 treatment groups; each consisted of 15 weaned male rabbits with five replicates. Rabbits in the T1 and T2 groups were orally supplied with 1 mL fennel oil and 1 mL gentamycin, respectively. Weaned rabbits under different treatments showed increased body weight (BW) at 8 and 12 weeks of age and average daily gain (ADG) at 4–8 and 4–12 weeks of age compared to the control group. Compared to the controls, the weaned rabbits supplemented with fennel oil and gentamycin had lower total cholesterol, triglyceride, and MDA. In addition, villus length, mRNA of BAX, BCL2, Casp3, and GPX were increased in the different treatments compared to the control. Furthermore, the meat of these rabbits was less tender, had a lower aerobic plate count (APC), pH, and was brighter and redder in color than the control. Under the conditions of the present study, the supplementation of weaned Moshtohor rabbits with fennel oil as a natural alternative for gentamycin enhanced feed conversion and daily gain through enhancing villus length and mucus thickness. Additionally, fennel essential oil reduces oxidative stress by increasing the antioxidant enzymes.

Use of zinc oxide nanoparticles in the growing rabbit diets to mitigate hot environmental conditions for sustainable production and improved meat quality

“…Due to lipid peroxidation brought on by DNA, protein, and cell phospholipid membrane damage, heat stress may increase the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [4][5][6][7]. Rabbits are becoming more and more important in the global meat industry, but hot weather conditions have an impact on an animal's productive physiology and the quality of its meat, and animal mortality rises [8][9][10][11]. Since growing rabbits are particularly sensitive to high temperatures and suffer from heat anxiety during the summer, intensive rabbit production is impacted by environmental and nutritional factors [12,13].…”

Impact of Dietary Lavender Essential Oil on the Growth and Fatty Acid Profile of Breast Muscles, Antioxidant Activity, and Inflammatory Responses in Broiler Chickens

“…Numerous extracts and essential oils of particular herbs contain antioxidant characteristics that have been demonstrated to be beneficial in delaying lipid peroxidation in oils and fatty diets. These properties have attracted the attention of many researchers [ 1 , 3 , 64 , 65 ]. In the current investigation, supplementing the diet with lavender essential oil at doses of 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg linearly decreased the MDA content while linearly increasing the serum enzyme activities of TAC, CAT, and SOD in comparison with the control group.…”

Histological and ultrastructural study on the pathogenicity of the fungicide cyproconazole and the probable protective influence of fennel oil extract on the adrenal cortex of adult rats

“…of fennel oil suspended in 10% DMSO. This dosage was established using information from prior rat studies and in accordance with the body weight and surface area of the body (Imbabi et al, 2021). CPZ-low dose-treated group: Animals were i.p.…”