Wood vinegar as a natural alternative to antibiotics: Effects on cecal microbiota, antioxidant status, and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens

Vet World Vol.18 July-2025 Article - 12

Research Article

Veterinary World, 18(7): 1911-1921

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.1911-1921

Sola Samson Emmanuel¹

, Teck Chwen Loh^1,2

, Hooi Ling Foo^3,4

, Henny Akit^1,3

, Muhamad Faris Ab Aziz¹

, and Eric Lim Teik Chung^1,2

1. Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

2. Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

3. Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

4. Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

Background and Aim: Antibiotic resistance has spurred interest in alternative feed additives for poultry. Wood vinegar (WV), a by-product of plant pyrolysis, contains bioactive compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of WV supplementation through drinking water on the cecal microbial population, volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, antioxidant enzyme activity, and apparent ileal nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens.

Materials and Methods: A total of 432 1-day-old male Cobb 500 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 72 per group; 6 replicates of 12 birds each). Treatments included a negative control (T1), a positive control with 0.02% oxytetracycline (T2), and WV-supplemented groups at dilution ratios of 1:100 (T3), 1:200 (T4), 1:500 (T5), and 1:1000 (T6) in drinking water. The experiment lasted 35 days. Plasma antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT], glutathione peroxidase [GPx], total antioxidant capacity [T-AOC]), VFA profiles, ileal digestibility (crude protein [CP], ash, ether extract [EE]), and cecal microbial populations were assessed. Statistical analysis was performed using the General Linear Model and Duncan’s multiple range tests (p < 0.05).

Results: WV supplementation enhanced antioxidant status, with significant increases in GPx (T5 and T6) and T-AOC (T6), while CAT and SOD remained unaffected. T5 significantly elevated acetic, butyric, and total VFA levels. WV-treated birds (T3–T6) showed reduced Salmonella, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacteria counts and increased bifidobacteria and total bacteria compared with controls. T4 showed the highest digestibility of CP, while T5 significantly improved ash and EE digestibility.

Conclusion: WV supplementation, particularly at a 1:200 dilution (T4), effectively improved gut microbial balance, enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, and promoted nutrient digestibility. These results support WV as a viable natural alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in broiler production.

Keywords: antibiotic alternative, antioxidant enzymes, broiler chickens, cecal microbiota, nutrient digestibility, volatile fatty acids, wood vinegar.

How to cite this article: Emmanuel SS, Loh TC, Foo HL, Akit H, Aziz MFA, and Chung ELT (2025) Wood vinegar as a natural alternative to antibiotics: Effects on cecal microbiota, antioxidant status, and nutrient digestibility in broiler chickens, Veterinary World, 18(7): 1911–1921.

Received: 12-01-2025 Accepted: 06-06-2025 Published online: 17-07-2025

Corresponding author: Teck Chwen Loh E-mail: tcloh@upm.edu.my

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.1911-1921

Copyright: Emmanuel, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.