Huang Yongliang, Cheng Siyu, Shi Jinping, He Pengjia, Ma Yue, Yang Ruixin, Zhang Xu, Cao Yongzhi, Lei Zhaomin
College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, 730070, China.
China Resources Ng Fung, Ltd, Shenzhen, 518000, China.
Anim Microbiome. 2025 May 6;7(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s42523-025-00415-x.
Dietary supplementation with oregano essential oil (OEO), a natural plant extracts, is an effective and acceptable method to improve growth, beef quantity and quality, but the undergoing mechanism in rumen has not yet been reported in Holstein steers. This study investigated the effects of oregano essential oil (OEO) on growth performance, fermentation parameters, digestive enzymes activity, rumen development and microbiota in Holstein steers. Eighteen steers were randomly divided into two groups (n = 9) and fed either a basal diet (CCK) or the same diet supplemented with 20 g/(d·head) OEO (CEO) for 270 days.
OEO increased the rumen contents of volatile fatty acids (VFA, acetate (P = 0.011), propionate (P = 0.008), butyrate (P = 0.018)) and digestive enzymes activity (cellulase (P = 0.018), protease and β-glucosidase (P < 0.001)), and improved rumen development (papillae width (P = 0.008) and micropapillary density (P = 0.001)), which reasons contribute to increase body weight (BW, P = 0.022), average daily gain (ADG, P = 0.021), carcass weight (P = 0.001), dressing percentage (P < 0.001), and net meat production (P = 0.001) of steers. Meanwhile, metagenomic and metabolomic analysis revealed OEO significantly reduced abundance of rumen microorganisms, especially methanogenic archaea and viruses while beneficial bacteria (Bifidobacterium) and virulence factors were not affected. KEGG analysis revealed that OEO significantly reduces the host risk of disease, improves the digestive system, and reduces the energy basic metabolism level. A correlation analysis indicated fourteen kinds key microbiome and six downregulated metabolites interfere with each other and together influence the growth performance of steers.
These results suggest that feed with 20 g/(d·head) OEO in steers diets could improve growth performance, and reduces virus abundance and disease risk. And the findings provide fundamental insights into OEO, as an alternative source of natural bioactive compounds, how effect on rumen development, composition and function of microorganisms.
用牛至精油（OEO）进行膳食补充，这是一种天然植物提取物，是提高生长性能、牛肉产量和质量的有效且可接受的方法，但荷斯坦公牛瘤胃中的作用机制尚未见报道。本研究调查了牛至精油（OEO）对荷斯坦公牛生长性能、发酵参数、消化酶活性、瘤胃发育和微生物群的影响。18头公牛随机分为两组（n = 9），分别饲喂基础日粮（CCK）或添加20 g/（d·头）OEO的相同日粮（CEO），持续270天。
OEO增加了瘤胃挥发性脂肪酸（VFA，乙酸（P = 0.011）、丙酸（P = 0.008）、丁酸（P = 0.018））含量和消化酶活性（纤维素酶（P = 0.018）、蛋白酶和β-葡萄糖苷酶（P < 0.001）），并改善了瘤胃发育（乳头宽度（P = 0.008）和微乳头密度（P = 0.001）），这些因素有助于增加公牛的体重（BW，P = 0.022）、平均日增重（ADG，P = 0.021）、胴体重（P = 0.001）、屠宰率（P < 0.001）和净肉产量（P = 0.001）。同时，宏基因组和代谢组分析显示，OEO显著降低了瘤胃微生物的丰度，尤其是产甲烷古菌和病毒，而有益细菌（双歧杆菌）和毒力因子未受影响。KEGG分析表明，OEO显著降低宿主疾病风险，改善消化系统，并降低能量基础代谢水平。相关性分析表明，14种关键微生物群和6种下调代谢物相互干扰，共同影响公牛的生长性能。
这些结果表明，在公牛日粮中添加20 g/（d·头）OEO可提高生长性能，并降低病毒丰度和疾病风险。这些发现为OEO作为天然生物活性化合物的替代来源如何影响瘤胃发育、微生物组成和功能提供了基本见解。
