Potential of a mixture of eugenol and garlic tincture to improve performance and intestinal health in broilers under necrotic enteritis challenge

Abstract

Plant extracts (PE) are gaining increased attention as potential alternatives to in-feed antimicrobials (AM) due to their known antimicrobial activities. This study was conducted to examine the potential of PE, a microencapsulated product composed of eugenol and garlic tincture as an alternative to AM-agent on performance and intestinal health in broilers under necrotic enteritis (NE) challenge. A total of 960 day-old mixed-sex Cobb 500 chicks were randomly distributed to 48-floor pens with 6 treatments replicated 8 times with 20 birds each. The 6 treatments were as follows: UC, unchallenged control; CC, challenged control; PE, challenged group plus PE; AM, challenged group plus AM; FAP, challenged group plus a full dose of AM with PE; HAP, challenged group plus a half dose of AM with PE in starter, grower and finisher phases. Birds in the challenged groups were inoculated with Eimeria spp. on d 9 and Clostridium perfringens on d 14. The body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and livability of birds were compromised, and intestinal lesions and mortality were increased ( P < 0.05) by NE challenge, illustrating a successful clinical NE challenge. Birds fed AM had higher BWG and FI, and lower FCR, mortality, and intestinal lesions compared to the CC group ( P < 0.05). Birds fed PE had improved FCR ( P < 0.05) and livability (5.8%) in an overall period compared to the CC group. On d 16, PE supplementation reduced ileal lesion scores in only male birds ( P < 0.05). Birds fed PE had decreased Eimeria maxima and Eimeria acervulina oocyst counts in caecal content ( P < 0.05). Birds fed PE had decreased Escherichia brunetti and total oocyst counts in caecal content, and E . acervulina oocyst counts in ileal content in only female birds ( P < 0.05). On d 35, PE supplementation reduced variation of BW in both male and female birds and increased yellowness (b∗ value, 14.4%) in the thigh. These findings suggest the potential of PE supplementation in diets to improve the performance and intestinal health of birds under clinical NE as indicated by improved FCR, livability, uniformity, reduced ileal lesions, oocyst counts and increased skin yellowness. However, the protective effect of PE may not be apparent in the presence of AM in the feed.

Dietary Eugenol Nanoemulsion Potentiated Performance of Broiler Chickens: Orchestration of Digestive Enzymes, Intestinal Barrier Functions and Cytokines Related Gene Expression With a Consequence of Attenuating the Severity of E. coli O78 Infection

“…Moreover, E. coli populations were greatly ( P < 0.05) affected by dietary eugenol nanoemulsion inclusion in a dose-dependent manner at the 3rd-week post-challenge. This pronounced reduction in E. coli counts corroborated data from previous investigators, where the density of ileal E. coli was decreased ( P < 0.05) after supplementing broiler chickens with a trademark essential oil mixture containing eugenol ( 22 ). Moreover, clove essential oil decreased ( P < 0.01) E. coli counts in the caecum of broiler chickens in comparison with the control group indicating its inhibitory effects against E. coli ( 100 ).…”

“…Similarly, dietary supplementation of nano encapsulated cumin essential oil at the level of 200 mg/kg diet improved the FCR of broiler chickens ( 50 ). Moreover, a recent study described the growth-promoting effect of a mixture of eugenol and garlic tincture in birds challenged with C. perfringens ( 22 ); however, the efficiency of eugenol in its nano form on broilers performance was not be investigated until now.…”

“…Moreover, broilers fed dietary EOs had augmented lipase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin secretions ( 54 ). It was previously proven that EOs had positive impacts on the nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens ( 22 ). However, upregulating the digestive enzyme gene expression following eugenol nanoemulsion was not studied until now.…”

“…Other features of these additives include their capability for increasing the growth performance, digestive functions, or expression of digestive enzyme related genes (14)(15)(16)(17) and to enhance the meat quality in broiler chickens (18)(19)(20). Among many potentially bioactive compounds from plant extracts, eugenol (4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol), a component of clove oil (21), has revealed positive potential impacts on growth performance and intestinal health (22) due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties (23). It possesses antibacterial efficacy against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (24).…”

Spray-dried porcine plasma enhances feed efficiency, intestinal integrity, and immune response of broilers challenged with necrotic enteritis

“…The oocyst shedding was quantified following the methods previously described by Kumar et al (2022) and expressed as oocysts per gram ( OPG ) of excreta samples. Briefly, fresh excreta samples were collected from all pens on 5 and 7 d postinfection.…”