The Effect of Using Marjoram Extract as Natural Growth Promoter on the Performance and Intestinal Bacteria of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The present study was performed in order to examine the effect of using marjoram extract as a natural growth promoter on performance and intestinal bacteria of broiler chickens. Marjoram extract was prepared by the maceration method. Then, an in vitro trial was conducted to determine the antibacterial activity of marjoram extract against six bacterial strains. The results of the antibacterial disk diffusion test showed that marjoram extract has a high inhibitory effect against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Later on, an in vivo feeding trial was done using 90 dayold Ross broiler chicks. The chicks were divided into two groups of three replicates each. The first group served as a control without any supplementation while the second group was supplemented with marjoram extract as a growth promoter. The results showed that addition of marjoram extract led to a significant (p<0.05) improvements in final live body weight, total weight gain and total feed intake of broiler chickens. On the other hand, the relative weights of internal organs were not affected by marjoram extract supplementation. The total aerobic intestinal bacteria count of the broilers fed the marjoram extract supplemented diet was significantly lower (p<0.01) than that of the control group. The overall results suggest that marjoram extract could successfully be used as a natural growth promoter alternative to antibiotic in broilers' diets.

Evaluating the Competitiveness of Medicinal Plants With Antibiotics to Control Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium in Broiler Chickens

“…The results reported by Bölükbaşı et al (2008) showed the decreasing effect of thyme, sage, and rosemary essential oils on serum cholesterol and triglyceride in laying hens. Also, the reducing effect of marjoram at a concentration of 0.4% and 0.8% in the diet on cholesterol was reported by Abdel-Moneim (2015). Licorice and cinnamon extracts are other compounds in medicine B.…”

“…Adding thyme and cinnamon extracts at levels of 100 and 200 mg/kg to the broiler chicken diet increased the growth performance compared with the control group (Al-Kassie, 2009). Supplementation of chicken feed with marjoram extracts at a rate of 14 g/100 kg improved body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) (Abdel-Moneim et al, 2015). Also, adding licorice extract to broilers drinking water has shown an important role in poultry performance by stimulating digestion and appetite (Alagawany et al, 2019).…”

Effect of Marjoram Leaves Extract on Performances, Blood Indices, Digestive Enzymes, Immunity, Antioxidant and Microbial Population of Growing Japanese Quails

“…They postulated that thymol and carvacrol could infiltrate bacteria, potentially influencing their proliferation. Abdel-Moneim et al (2015) documented a marked decrease in overall intestinal bacteria in chickens that received a diet supplemented with MPEx as a natural growth enhancer, compared to the control cohort. This result was expected; as prior studies have corroborated the efficacy of marjoram extracts in managing pathogenic intestinal microflora through direct antimicrobial activities.…”

Antioxidant effects of marjoram (Origanum majorana l.) and its improvement of the intestinal mucosa morphology in pulmonary hypertensive chickens

“…Although many reports have shown that marjoram improves body weight gain, food consumption, or feed conversion ratio [7,8,29], there are also con icting reports [6,30,31]. In these reports, different products of marjoram (oil, essential oil, powder, and extract) with different concentrations have been used.…”