Application of Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine By-products as Dietary Feed Supplements and Antibiotic Replacements in Animal Production

Abstract

Misuse of synthetic antibiotics in livestock leads to the transfer of antibiotic resistant pathogens into humans and deposits toxic residues in meat and milk. There is therefore an urgent need for safe and viable alternative approaches to improve the nutrition and wellbeing of farm animals. An alternative source that has been widely exploited is traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCHM). These herbal medicines are an important part of the healthcare system in many Asian countries. Such herbs contain several but less toxic bioactive compounds which are generally regarded biodegradable. Recently, advances in knowledge on the importance of TCHM have led to a rapid increase in its production and hence, increasing the amount of by-products generated. Such by-products have become a serious environmental challenge because producers regard them as industrial waste and discard them directly. Incorporating TCHM by-products as feed additives to improve animal health and nutrition has been proposed because they contain high amounts of bioactive compounds which confer several health benefits to animals. TCHM by-products as feed additives apart from being a good alternative for synthetic antibiotics could also minimize the current environmental challenges associated with its disposal. This review summarizes scientific findings on the bioactive compounds in TCHM and TCHM by-products, discusses functional dietary patterns and outlines challenges that may hinder full utilization of TCHM by-products in animal production.

Identification of Plant Soot as Novel Safe Feed Additive: Evaluation of 90-Day Oral Toxicity and Prenatal Developmental Toxicity in Rats

“…It has been known that overused antibiotics in animal feed could lead to the development of drug-resistant bacteria and drug residues as threats to human health, so they have been phased out as growth promoters in many countries (12)(13)(14). On the other hand, there is increasing value in finding natural and harmless feed additives to strengthen the immune system and fight against various diseases, thus new antibiotic substitution strategies and alternative feed additives such as microecological preparations and traditional herbal medicine are currently increasing in popularity (15)(16)(17). It reported that the dietary supplementation with propionibacteria promoted mucus secretion characterized by rising goblet cells counts, neutral mucin production, and the longer villus-crypt units.…”

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Protective Mechanism of Glycyrrhinic Acid for Deoxynivalenol-Induced Inflammation and Apoptosis in IPEC-J2 Cells

“…Traditional Chinese medicines have been recognized as good feed additives in improving animal production performance, immunity, and disease resistance [ 19 , 20 ]. Licorice, a perennial herb, has well-known detoxifying effects [ 21 ].…”

Dietary Purslane (Portulaca Oleracea L.) Promotes the Growth Performance of Broilers by Modulation of Gut Microbiota

“…Traditional Chinese herbal medicine contains numerous biologically active compounds, which can provide various nutritional and health bene ts to animals, so it can be used as a feed additive (Abdallah et al 2019). As a feed additive, purslane is especially worthy of attention in enhancing nutrition, regulating metabolism and promoting the digestion and absorption of nutrients in animals.…”