Effect of a specific combination of carvacrol , cinnamaldehyde , and Capsicum oleoresin on the growth performance , carcass quality and gut integrity of broiler chickens

Aim: The effect of a specific combination (SC) of carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and Capsicum oleoresin was investigated on productive performance and immune response in broiler chickens. Materials and Methods: Six hundred one-day-old broiler chickens were randomly allocated into two groups for 5 weeks. The SC was supplemented at 100 ppm of ration (presence or absence). Results: Treatment of broiler chickens with the SC improved productive performance variables as compared with the blank control birds. It decreased total mortality, increased final body weight, weight gain, production number and decreased final feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05). The SC had a positive effect on carcass quality and enhanced HI titer against Newcastle disease (ND) virus vaccine, as compared to their untreated control group (P<0.05). The SC treated birds had higher values of intestinal diameter than the control ones. Conclusion: It could be concluded that administration of a specific combination of carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and Capsicum oleoresin to broiler chickens improved chicken zootechnical performance response variables, had a potent immunomodulatory effect (potentiated immune response) and improved gut integrity. Eventually, this combination could be used as a replacement to the controversial feed additives (antibiotic growth promoters).


Introduction
and animal welfare problem [7].The challenge will be to fight microbial imbalances in young animals.Feed In view of rising concerns on the extensive use of formulators need efficient alternatives to use as antibiotics in animal production, there is an increasing commodities.Consequently, natural alternatives concepts interest for developing alternative disease control based on natural ingredients for non-AGP and antibacterial strategy to enhance animal health and to reduce the use action are highly commendable.These alternatives such of antimicrobials.One promising new possibility to as probiotics, prebiotics and acidifiers successfully been achieve this goal is the use of natural herbal products to used by many investigators [8][9][10][11].Herbal products enhance feed efficiency, gut health, and innate and their oil extracts have been used for natural therapy immunity [1,2].The American Medical Association as pharmaceuticals; however, only in recent years urged that the use of antimicrobial growth promoters aromatic plants and their extracts were introduced to (AGP) in animals should be terminated [3].
the animal feeding [12].Further complications arise Consequently, many governments around the world because herbal products and their oil extracts feed are banning or severely limiting the use of antibiotics at additives may vary widely with respect to botanical non-therapeutic levels.All AGP have been banned in origin, processing, and composition.Most studies the European Union (EU) since the year 2006.
investigate blends of various active compounds and Eventually, many other countries will have to follow report the effects on production performance rather these measures to export to the EU.Consequently, the than the physiological impacts [13][14][15].Several types poultry industry may be adversely affected by disease of herbal products and their oil extracts have enhanced challenge and loss of production because of those broiler performance and resulted in growth-promoting restrictions [4].The European ban on AGP use in effects [13].The proposed mode of action of herbal animal and poultry nutrition has increased infections products is attributed to their antimicrobial properties [5].Raising poultry without antibiotics resulted in poor [5,14,16,17], antiviral [18], oxidative-resistant activity performance and enteritis that is economic problem [6] [15,19], anti-inflammatory [5,20], enhancement of the immune system [1, 2, 17] and other biological effects [14,21,22]  Chicken performance response variables were male broiler chickens were used in this semi-field trial.
determined [40].Weekly individually body weight Chicks were housed in semi-closed house.The (wt.) and wt.gain were measured on all birds.Weekly chickens were provided with 24 hours light throughout feed consumption (g/d/bird), feed conversion ratio the first three days, then 23 hours light and 1 hour dark (FCR) (g feed/g live body wt.gain), and mortality rate until slaughter time (35 days).Chickens were fed a were measured for each replicate.Dead birds were commercial starter diet (23% crude protein and 3000 weighed to include their weights in the feed conversion kcal ME/kg diet) during the first two weeks of age, estimation.An index of productivity is the so-called commercial grower diet (22% crude protein and 3150 production number [which equals (kilograms of kcal ME/kg diet) from 2-4 weeks of age, and then growth per day x (100 -mortality %) / FCR) x 100] [24] commercial finisher diet (19% crude protein and 3200 was estimated for each replicate, at the end of the expekcal ME/kg diet).Semduramicin was added to the rimental period.Feed consumption was calculated, for ration at a concentration of 25 ppm as a coccidiostat.
each subgroup weekly to investigate the feed No antibiotics were added to the ration.The diets conversion ratio (FCR) (g feed/g live body weight).compositions are indicated in Table-1.Feed and water FCR was calculated, for each subgroup, as follows: were available ad libitum.All chickens were Feed intake for the subgroup (kg) divided by the total vaccinated against Newcastle disease vaccine (ND) at th st body weight gained for the same subgroup (kg).The 7 and 21 day of age by using live Hitchner B1 and La total body weights included dead birds during the week.Sota strain vaccines, respectively.Live infectious (from 0 to 35d old) in a dose of 100 ppm resulted in giblets (liver + heart + gizzard %) were measured at 5 increase in final body weight (+111 g), with improve in weeks of age, on three birds from each replicate.
final feed conversion ratio (-64 units) and total Relative weights of spleen, thymus and bursa of mortality rate (-0.83%) and consequently, increase in fabricius (BF): On 35 day of age, determination of the production number by 37 units, as compared to control relative spleen, thymus and BF weights, as a percent of group.The data of body weight gain indicated differences st nd the fasting live body weights, were performed on three between the two groups, except from the 1 to the 2 birds from each replicate.of age, as compared to SC treated group.There were no significant differences in daily feed consumption or Immune status assessment: To investigate the total feed consumption between the control and the SC possible effect of the SC on the humoral immunity; an nd treated groups, except during the 2 week of age immunoassay was adopted.For this purpose, blood (Table -2).Where, the control birds consumed, daily, samples were collected from wing vein from 30 more amount of feed than the SC treated ones.randomly selected birds at weekly intervals (1-5 weeks The effect of feed supplementation with the SC on of age) from each group (3 birds/replicate).The serum carcass characteristics revealed increase in dressing samples were subjected to haemagglutination inhibition (+1.8%), front part (+1.5%), breast meat (+1.44%), (HI) test for determining antibody titers against ND carcass meat (+1.7%), gizzard weight (+0.16%) as well vaccine employing 8 haemagglutinating (HA) units as decrease in abdominal fat (-0.27%), as compared to [25].

Statistical analysis: One-way analysis of variance was
No effects were detected on feed supplementation used using SAS software general liner models procedure with the SC on relative weights of spleen, thymus, or [27].The main factor was the SC supplementation.
In the present investigation, the effect of the SC Discussion on carcass quality revealed increase in percentage of Health of chicken gastrointestinal tract is of great dressing %, front part %, breast meat %, carcass meat concern due to its impact on economic sustainability, %, gizzard weight % and intestinal diameter, as well as and their customers' concern about food safety and decrease in abdominal fat %.Jamroz and Kamel [45] traceability.Comparing treated chickens by a SC with reported that broiler chickens fed with herb extract had their untreated blank controls revealed a significant higher breast weight compared to control group.improve in broiler productive performance, intestinal Contrary to our findings, another researches showed diameter, and HI antibody titers against ND vaccine.that supplementation of combination of two herb extracts Many researchers agree with our results and established had no effect on carcass characteristics [23,46].the improvement in broiler performance, when herbal Alçiçek et al. [29] recorded that herb extract resulted in essential oils were supplemented in broiler diets or improvement of chicken carcass but had no effect on water [28][29][30][31].The positive impact on poultry production abdominal fat percentage. of the used herbal compound in the present investigation Immunomodulators administered simultaneously could be attributed to its antioxidant activity [32,33], with vaccines might potentiate their specific immune enhancing digestibility by stimulating endogenous response.Regarding our findings, the SC can be enzyme activity and facilitating nitrogen absorption efficacious as an oral adjuvant to enhance humoral [34] and/or its anti-microbial activities as essential oils immunity (immuno-globulin production) in response [16, 35 and 36].A wide range of in-vitro anti-microbial to vaccination.This means that administration of herbal activities of essential oils derived from cinnamon, oils could partially counter attacks immune dysfunction.thyme and oregano has been determined [37].The anti- The immune protective effect of herbal essential oils microbial functions of these herbs are associated with might be due to their antioxidant activity [32,33] carvacrol [38][39][40] since carvacrol has been shown to and/or their antimicrobial activities [37,40].inhibit Salmonella growth [41] and Escherichia coli The histological study showed that the addition of [14] in chickens.Cinnamaldehyde is a constituent of the SC increased the villus height and villus height/ cinnamon and widely applied as flavoring.It has been crypt depth ratio in ileum compared with controls.proven to have strong anti-bacterial activity against However, the ileal crypt depth was decreased by SC Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp.[42].In vitro, supplementation compared with control (Table-6 and cinnamaldehyde, strongly inhibited Clostridium perfringens and Bacteroides fragilis [43].Many diverse Plate-1).These results confirmed the suggestion activities of carvacrol have been proved such as anti-reported by Bravo et al. [47], who suggested that the microbial, antitumor, antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, effect of a mixture of carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and analgesic, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, angio-Capsicum oleoresin might be mediated by a direct genic, antiparasitic, antiplatelet, insecticidal, antihepaincrease in dietary energy digestibility or absorption, by a decrease in the energy required for the maintena-manuscript.All authors read and approved the final nce of the digestive tract, or a combination of both.
manuscript.From the data of Table-2, it could be concluded st Switzerland for supplying of the material of the the beginning of the growing period (1 week of age) specific combination of Carvacrol, Cinnamaldehyde, but then, growth rate and feed efficiency were TM and Capsicum oleoresin (XTRACT 6930).They also accelerated and therefore improved with SC.This acknowledge Animal Production Department, Faculty could be hypothetically attributed to optimizing the of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt, for carrying intestinal growth and immune system during this out the experimental work.Any person of Panacosma period.Then the birds not only profit from this early gut Co. was not involved in the research and publication at development but also might reduce their maintenance any stage either directly or indirectly.requirements.
nd rd and from the 2 to the 3 weeks of age.From the first st Intestinal length and diameter: Intestinal length day to the 1 week of age, the control group had higher (duodenum + jejunum + ileum) and diameter (in the body weight gain; in contrast, it had lower body weight rd th th th middle of ileum) were measured on three birds from gain from the 3 to the 4 and from the 4 to the 5 week th each replicate, on the 35 day of age.

Experimental birds: One-day-old Arbor Acres Plus Productive performance and carcass characteristics:
and consequently, improvement in poultry performance.th However, the results of the experiments that have bursal disease vaccine (IBD) was administrated at 14 been carried out to evaluate the response of broiler day of age.Drinking water method was used as route of th chicks to herbal products and their oil extracts feed administration of live vaccines.On 10 day of age,

Table - 1
: Composition of the broilers 3-phase diets (g/kg as fed) and their calculated chemical composition.

Table - 2
: Effect of the SC on productive performance and mortality of broiler chickens.Studied the effects of dietary oregano essential oil was increase in the intestinal length of treated group on live chickens performance where it improved the FCR significantly (P< 0.05) as compared with control over the untreated control group (191.93 cm vs.185.80 chickens and birds fed the oregano oil diet consumed cm respectively) (Table-4).significantly (P< 0.05) less feed compared to controls Immune status assessment: The results of humoral from 21 to 42 d of age.Capsicum oleoresin contains immune response are presented in Table-5, which anti-bacterial activity; it contains the pungent principles, indicated increase in the SC treated group over the capsaicin which has effects on the resistance to blank control group in the HI titers against ND vaccine Salmonella enteritidis infection by altering pH and at different examined intervals.
a * Means with different superscripts, within row, are significantly different (P<0.05).

Table - 4
: Effect of the SC on relative weights of lymphoid organs and intestinal morphology in broiler chickens at 5 weeks of age.

of fabricius% Intestine length (cm) Intestine diameter (cm)
Means with different superscripts, within column, are significantly different (P<0.05).Effect of The SC on haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody titer against Newcastle disease vaccine in broiler chickens.Means with different superscripts, within column, are significantly different (P<0.05).