Essential oils and their nanoemulsions as green alternatives to antibiotics in poultry nutrition: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Increasing market pressure to reduce the use of antibiotics and the Veterinary Feed Directive of 2019 have led to expanded research on alternate antibiotic solutions. This review aimed to assess the benefits of using essential oils ( EOs ) and their nanoemulsions ( NEs ) as feed supplements for poultry and their potential use as antibiotic alternatives in organic poultry production. Antibiotics are commonly used to enhance the growth and prevent diseases in poultry animals due to their antimicrobial activities. EOs are a complex mixture of volatile compounds derived from plants and manufactured via various fermentation, extraction, and steam distillation methods. EOs are categorized into 2 groups of compounds: terpenes and phenylpropenes. Differences among various EOs depend on the source plant type, physical and chemical soil conditions, harvest time, plant maturity, drying technology used, storage conditions, and extraction time. EOs can be used for therapeutic purposes in various situations in broiler production as they possess antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antiviral activities. Several studies have been conducted using various combinations of EOs or crude extracts of their bioactive compounds to investigate their complexity and applications in organic poultry production. NEs are carrier systems that can be used to overcome the volatile nature of EOs, which is a major factor limiting their application. NEs are being progressively used to improve the bioavailability of the volatile lipophilic components of EOs. This review discusses the use of these nonantibiotic alternatives as antibiotics for poultry feed in organic poultry production.

Mycoplasma gallisepticum: a devastating organism for the poultry industry in Egypt

“…Efforts should be intensified to reduce the negative impacts of mycoplasmosis in the poultry industry by adopting biosafety measures and effective vaccinations in the breeder flocks to minimize the vertical transmission of the disease ( El-Naggar et al., 2021 ). It is also supposed to use some safe products such as herbal extracts ( Abou-Kassem et al., 2021a ), essential oil ( Abd El-Hack et al., 2021a ; Alagawany et al., 2021a ; El-Tarabily et al., 2021 ), amino acids ( Abou-Kassem et al., 2021b ; Arif et al., 2021 ), phytogenic products ( Abd El-Hack et al., 2021b , c ; El-Shall et al., 2021 ; Reda et al., 2021 ), enzymes ( Llamas-Moya et al., 2019 ), bioactive peptides ( El-Saadony et al., 2021a , b ), probiotics ( Alagawany et al., 2021b ; El-Saadony et al., 2021c ), plant bioactive compounds ( Abd El-Hack et al., 2021d ; El-Saadony et al., 2021d ), and prebiotics ( Abd El-Hack et al., 2021e ; Yaqoob et al., 2021 ), and biological synthesized nanoparticles ( Abd El-Ghany et al., 2021 ; Abd El-Hack et al., 2021f ) to raise the general health status of birds and improve their resistance to different diseases including mycoplasmosis.…”

Effect of Lycopene on the Growth Performance, Antioxidant Enzyme Activity, and Expression of Gene in the Keap1-Nrf2 Signaling Pathway of Arbor Acres Broilers

“…As an additive, lycopene is recognized as a class A nutrient by the Food Additives Committee, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the World Health Organization for its antioxidant and coloring functions ( 11 ). In the antioxidant defense network of the poultry, the key antioxidant enzyme system is mainly established by superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase ( 12 , 13 ). It was found that adding dried tomato pomace to the diet could improve the activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the plasma of the Lohman Layer ( 14 ), the laying rate increased, and malondialdehyde content in serum and eggs decreased ( 15 ), indicating that the lycopene has an antioxidant function, but few studies about the antioxidant mechanisms of lycopene are found.…”

Effect of Dietary Rosemary and Ginger Essential Oils on the Growth Performance, Feed Utilization, Meat Nutritive Value, Blood Biochemicals, and Redox Status of Growing NZW Rabbits

“…Aromatic plants contain EOs, which can be used as phytogenic feed additives, these oils are characterized as volatile, odorous, hydrophobic, and highly concentrated compounds [19]. Essential oils are aromatic oily liquids extracted by distillation from various plant components such as flowers, buds, seeds, leaves, twigs, bark, wood, fruits, and roots [20][21][22].…”