Effect of various levels of Lavandula Officinalis essential oil on performance, blood metabolites and cecal microbiology of broilers fed diets based on wheat

Salami, K.; Salari, S.; Boujarpour, M.; Ghorbani, M. R.

Effect of various levels of Lavandula Officinalis essential oil on performance, blood metabolites and cecal microbiology of broilers fed diets based on wheat

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ M.Sc graduated student of Animal Nutrition, Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Iran

² Assistant Professor, Animal Science Department, Ramin Agriculture and Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Iran

³ Associate Professor, Department of Animal Science, Ramin Agricultural and Natural Resources University, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate various levels of Lavandula Officinalis essential oil (L.O. E.O) on performance, microbiology and some blood parameters of broilers fed diets based on wheat. Completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 2×3 with four replicates was performed for 42 days. Treatments consisted of different levels of wheat (0 and 50 percent of diet) and different levels of L.O. E. O )0, 200 and 400 mg/ kg). The results of this experiment showed that addition of L.O. E.O on the wheat-based diet or corn- based diet caused significant increased in feed intake in starter period (P<0.05). Body weight gain was not affected by the treatments (P>0.05). In wheat-based diet, feed conversion ratio decreased significantly. The LDL concentration decreased significantly by increasing levels of L.O. E.O in both diet (P<0.05). Addition of L.O E.O to the diet increased significantly percentage of thigh and decreased relative weight of spleen, pancreas and gizzard. Ileum pH, viscosity and cecum microbial population were not affected by the treatments (P>0.05). According to the results, addition of L. O. E. O at level of 400 ppm could be decreased feed conversion ratio and blood LDL concentration and cecum microbial population improved numerically but it seems that more experiment is needed.

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