Target Animal Safety and Residual Study for Berberine and other Phytogenic Compounds in Broiler Chickens

Abstract

Background: Phytogenic compounds are one of many alternatives to current industry feed ingredients for the poultry industry. However, despite increased reports on the activity of phytogenic compounds against disease in poultry, there is a lack of data regarding safety and residual toxicity. This two-part study investigated the general health of broiler chickens fed Berberine, Ursolic Acid, Piceid, Honokiol and Baicalin in-feed at three different levels, and assessed the poultry tissue residue of Berberine in breast muscle, upper and lower thigh, and liver through LC/MS-MS.

An insight into the potential of berberine in animal nutrition: Current knowledge and future perspectives

“…In poultry, BBR (250 mg/kg for 9 weeks) reduced the plethora of Clostridiales , Lachnospiraceae , Lachnoclostridium , Intestinimonas , and Firmicutes in the gut, but increased the abundances of the phylum Bacteroidetes and the genus Bacteroides (Zhu et al, 2021). It is also well known that BBR (0.05–1 g/kg) can be used to control coccidia infection and necrotic enteritis (NE) in broilers (Yu et al, 2017).…”

“…In regard to livestock, BBR was found to be safe for broiler chickens, even at high doses of 1 g/kg in feed (Yu et al, 2017). BBR was also safely fed to ducks (Fernandez et al, 2017), broilers (H. Y. Zhang et al, 2013), and fish (W. Zhou et al, 2019) up to 200, 600, and 100 mg/day respectively.…”

“…In regard to livestock, BBR was found to be safe for broiler chickens, even at high doses of 1 g/kg in feed (Yu et al, 2017). BBR was also safely fed to ducks (Fernandez et al, 2017) (H. Y.…”