Effects of nanoencapsulated aloe vera, dill and nettle root extract as feed antibiotic substitutes in broiler chickens
Aloe vera, nettle and dill are herbs that have been used in the poultry diet as feed additives to utilise their benefits in improving performance, immune response and health of broiler chickens. However, reactive and volatile properties of bioactive compounds in herbal extracts cause limitations on...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Archives Animal Breeding |
| Online Access: | http://www.arch-anim-breed.net/60/1/2017/aab-60-1-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | Aloe vera, nettle and dill are herbs that have
been used in the poultry diet as feed additives to utilise their benefits in
improving performance, immune response and health of broiler chickens.
However, reactive and volatile properties of bioactive compounds in herbal
extracts cause limitations on direct usage of them in the diet. The use of
chitosan (CS) nanoparticles for the entrapment of active components has
gained interest in the last few years due to its mucous adhesiveness,
non-toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability. This study was an effort
to evaluate effects of nanoencapsulated extracts of aloe vera, dill and
nettle root used in diet on performance, carcass traits and serum
immunoglobulin (IgM and IgY) concentrations in broiler chickens. Chitosan
nanoparticles were prepared by using ionotropic gelation principle. After
nanogel preparation of herbal extracts, a total of 240 Ross (308) broiler
chicks were divided into eight treatments, with three replicates of 10 birds.
The eight dietary treatments consisted of control (no additives),
antibiotic (bacitracin 500 g t<sup>−1</sup>), non-encapsulated and
nanoencapsulated extracts of aloe vera, dill and nettle root. In each
experimental period, non-encapsulated (free extracts) and nanoencapsulated
extracts of aloe vera, dill and nettle roots were added in amounts of 0.02,
0.025 and 0.05 % to starter, grower and finisher diets,
respectively. Birds in different treatments received the same diets during
the experimental periods. Results revealed that increasing both
non-encapsulated and nanoencapsulated herbal extracts to 0.05 % in
finisher diets improved body weight gain in the time period of 28–42 days and
consequently the whole time from 1 to 42 days. However, in these periods, birds fed a diet
containing nanoencapsulated dill extract had a significantly (<i>P</i> < 0.05)
higher body weight gain compared with the antibiotic group, while
non-encapsulated dill extract treatment was intermediate. The addition of
nanoencapsulated nettle extract in diet significantly (<i>P</i> < 0.05) improved
feed conversion efficiency in the 28–42-day period compared with the antibiotic
group. In comparison with the antibiotic group, nanoencapsulation of dill extract
could profoundly improve growth performance and can therefore be used as
a substitute for antibiotics in the diet of broiler chickens. |
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| ISSN: | 0003-9438 2363-9822 |