A feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of organic acids or probiotics alone or in combination on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, enzyme activity, intestinal morphology and gut microflora in broiler chickens (Ross308). A completely randomized design was used, with 1,440 broiler chicks across four treatments and five replications of 72 chicks each. The chicks in the control treatment were fed on a control diet (CD), whereas for the other treatment groups, the CD was supplemented with 0.2 g/kg organic acids (CDOA), probiotics (CDP) or a combination of organic acids and probiotics (CDOAP). All the chicks were fed ad libitum during the feeding trial throughout 35 days. A total of 20 chicks were randomly allotted to individual metabolic cages to measure the nutrient digestibility (35-42 days) and the digestive enzyme activities (42 days). The intestinal morphology and gut microflora of 80 chicks were examined at the end of experiment. There were no significant (p > .05) differences in the feed intake, body weight gain or feed conversion ratio of the chicks across the four dietary treatments. The crude fibre digestibility was significantly increased in chicks fed on CDOA or CDOAP relative to CD (p < .05). Nutrient utilization, in terms of digestive enzyme activities and excreta thermal property, was unchanged by any supplementation. The chicks fed on the CDOAP had significantly higher duodenal villi height and crypt depth than the chicks fed on CDOA (p < .05). This dietary treatment dramatically improved gut microflora by decreasing the population of Escherichia coli and increasing the Lactobacillus spp.:E. coli ratio. Based on our investigations, supplementation of organic acids and probiotics in chick diets can increase the ability to digest crude fibre and villus height and decrease intestinal E. coli without impairing growth performance.

Pyroligneous acid also called wood vinegar is an aqueous liquid produced from pyrolysis of lignocellulose waste and biomass. In general, the pyrolysis types are classified base on heating rate mainly either fast or slow pyrolysis. The characteristic and properties of wood vinegar are primarily influenced by the type of carbonaceous feedstocks as well as the production techniques. Wood vinegar is a complex mixture of polar and non-polar chemicals with various molecular weights and compositions. Its major constituent is water (80-90%). Some physical properties; such as pH, specific gravity, dissolved tar content are, respectively, within the range of 2-4, 1.005-1.016 g/mL, 0.23-0.89% wt, and color, odor and transparency have been reported. In addition, the degree of o Brix was ranged between 1.7 and 6.6. Besides water, the chemical compositions of wood vinegars consisted of acetic acid with the largest component (30.45-70.60 mg.mL À1). A high number of phenol derivatives have been found and those in higher concentrations were 4-propyl-2-methoxyphenol (5-11 mg.mL À1) followed by 2-methylphenol (2-4 mg.mL À1). Wood vinegar has been regarded as a natural product, which claimed to be capable in several fields of application. In agriculture, wood vinegar has been used in vegetable cropping in order to combat disease, pest control, improve growth and fruit quality, seed germination accelerator as well as herbicide. In pharmaceutical and medical applications, it is used for the preparation of detoxification pad while in veterinary and animal production, incorporation of the wood vinegar in feed could promote acidity in large intestine to inhibit growth of enteropathogenic microbes. In food processing, wood vinegar has a characteristic smoke flavor, and also exhibits microbial growth inhibition. In addition, several investigators reported that bio-oil and wood vinegar obtained from fast pyrolysis and carbonization showed a high potential on organic wood preservative. In summary, the wood vinegar prepared from the tropical wood and/or biomass waste is widely beneficial. The chapter attempts to provide essential knowledge relevant to physicochemical characteristics of wood vinegar and its applications.

Lack of dosing information of the major antibiotics known as oxytetracycline (OTC) for the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) could have harmful impact on aquaculture in Thailand. The aim of this study was to detail complete pharmacokinetic information of OTC in the Pacific white shrimp. Sixty-four male L. vannamei weighing 14-22 g with carapace length of 2.30-3.00 cm in the standardized moulting stage of C-D(0) were used for the investigations. Single dose, 10 microg/g body weight OTC solution was administered intra-sinusally (i.s.), and the shrimps were then sampled in three replicates at time intervals of 0.25, 0.5, 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 24, 48, 72, 170, 336 and 504 h postdose. OTC levels with time intervals in biological matrices including the hemolymph, abdominal muscle, and digestive gland of each sample were determined by validated high-performance liquid chromatography, and were analyzed with noncompartment and compartment models. A simplified two-compartment model was employed rather than a more complicated model, with additional digestive compartment if necessary. A significant portion of the OTC was found in the digestive glands, even though the OTC was administered i.s. The model indicated that the OTC was thus not only distributed into the tissue compartment, but also to the digestive gland, from where it was eliminated from the shrimp's body. The dispositional half-lives of all compartments was found to be 14-21 h. Approximately 60% of the drug elimination took place in digestive gland, which is proposed to be the major route of elimination.

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