Department of Animal Science, Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Mashhad, Iran.
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2019 Sep;103(5):1388-1398. doi: 10.1111/jpn.13122. Epub 2019 May 20.
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.
本研究旨在评估百里香（Thymus vulgaris）、薄荷（Mentha piperita）和桉树（Eucalyptus globules）精油混合物（EOB）作为天然生长促进剂的效果。将 5 个剂量（0（CON）、50、100、150 和 200 ppm）的 EOB 每天添加到饮水中，以确定其对 Ross 308 肉鸡生长性能、胴体质量、血液生化、免疫反应和回肠形态的影响。将 500 只 10 日龄雄性 Ross 308 肉鸡分为 5 个处理组，每个处理组 4 个重复。与 CON 相比，添加 150 ppm 的 EOB 分别提高了（p < 0.05）体重增重、饲料转化率和生产指数 11.73%、10.81%和 24.13%。添加 100、150 和 200 ppm 的 EOB 提高了（p < 0.05）胴体产量和大腿肌肉与 CON 的比例。与 CON 相比，添加 150 和 200 ppm 的 EOB 降低了血清肝酶（丙氨酸氨基转移酶、天冬氨酸氨基转移酶和碱性磷酸酶）浓度，同时改善了回肠绒毛高度和绒毛高度与隐窝深度的比值（p < 0.05）。与 CON 相比，21 和 42 日龄时，添加 200 ppm 和 150 ppm 的 EOB 分别降低了回肠大肠杆菌计数，提高了乳酸杆菌计数（p < 0.05）。在接种后第 4 天，随着 EOB 补充水平的增加，新城疫、支气管炎和传染性法氏囊病的抗体滴度呈线性增加（p < 0.05）。我们的结果表明，在 11-42 日龄期间，在饮水中添加 150 ppm 的 EOB 可提高肉鸡的生长性能、体液免疫和回肠形态和微生物群，因此，EOB 有潜力作为抗生素生长促进剂的替代品。
