Prebiotic Roles of Ocimum gratissimum Extract in the Control of Colibacillosis in Broilers

Abstract

Prebiotics are non-digestible substances that provide beneficial physiological effect on the host when consumed, by selectively stimulating the favourable growth or activity of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacilli. Ocimum gratissimum is a Nigerian leafy vegetable known for its vast bioactive compounds and therapeutic use. This research aimed at identifying the prebiotic compounds present in O. gratissimum ethanolic extract and to observe their roles in the control of colibacillosis in broilers; as a natural alternative to antibiotic therapy. Prebiotics present in O. gratissimum were assessed using ethanolic extraction and thin layer chromatography. A 1.5 ml aliquot of 10 6 cfu/ml E. coli O157:H7 isolated from Nono (sour milk) and identified with 16s rDNA sequencing, was used to elicit colibacillosis infection in three weeks old broilers. Ethanolic extract of O. gratissimum (40 g/L) was orally administered, Norfloxacin (15 g/L) was used as the antibiotic control, uninfected broilers were used as healthy control and broilers infected without treatment were used as negative control for the experiment which was monitored over a period of four weeks. Data were analyzed using Tukey test for mean partitioning. Prebiotics present in O. gratissimum were mainly fructooligosaccharides. Administration of the plant prebiotics to the infected birds resulted in appreciable weight gain (P =0.015), decrease in total E. coli count (P =0.006) and increase in total lactic acid bacteria count (P = 0.025) in the caecum. Histopathology examination of the caecal tissues revealed mucosal lipidosis in the caecum, which indicates probably short chain fatty acid production from prebiotic fermentation by beneficial bacteria that inhabit the colon. O. gratissimum prebiotic administration can serve as an antibiotic alternative to control the colibacillosis in broilers, which poultry farmers can be encouraged to adopt to limit the cases of microbial resistances from poultry farms.

Botanical Control of Multiple Drug Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in Clarias gariepinus

“…Pseudomonas isolates were obtained from a water sample stored in a reservoir, using one-in-ten-fold serial dilutions in sterile water, and spread-plating on cetrimide agar (Titan Biotech, India), supplemented with 1% glycerol. Culture plates were incubated at 28°C for 24 h aerobically, and resultant mixed cultures from the water sample were separated to pure cultures by streaking according to modified methods of Ikele et al 14 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were presumptively identified using routine biochemical tests. Antibiogram of isolates were profiled using commercial antibiotic discs (Optun, Nigeria), and the multi-drug resistant isolate was adopted for use.…”

The Use of Medicinal Plants in Avian Colibacillosis Management: A Review

“…For the total bacterial counts in the caecum, the E. coli count was reduced, while concurrently, the lactic acid bacteria count was higher. Caecal histopathology results revealed vacuolations which were interpreted as mucosal lipidosis, where the presence of short chain fatty acids produced by prebiotic fermentation would supposedly involve repairing damaged tissues via immune modulation (Ikele et al, 2020).…”

Prebiotic effects of Talinum triangulare and Mangifera indica on slow growing broiler chickens (SASSO)

“…It has been found that the use of probiotics [ 9 ], prebiotics [ 10 ], symbiotics [ 11 ] and phytogens [ 11 , 12 ] in poultry farming can alleviate the problems of antibiotics and the high cost of poultry inputs. Prebiotics were the focus of some study because of their mechanisms of action on poultry gut flora [ 13 ] and their physiological benefits on poultry health [ 14 ].…”