Effects of dietary thyme and oregano essential oils entrapped in chitosan and Canarium charcoal stable matrix on growth performances in broiler chickens

Abstract, International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, 2018

Using essential oils (EOs) in animal feed is not practical due to the instability and volatility of their components. This study was designed to stabilize thyme and oregano EOs in chitosan and Canarium charcoal to mitigate their volatile and oxidative ability in poultry feed. The dietary treatments consisted of control diet (R0); control diet supplemented with chitosan film forming solution containing 0.01% of a blend of thyme and oregano EOs (RTh+Or), 0.2% charcoal without EOs (Roc), chitosan film forming solution containing 0.01% of thyme EO entrapped with charcoal (Roc+Th), chitosan film forming solution containing 0.01% of oregano EO entrapped with charcoal (ROC+Or) and chitosan film forming solution containing 0.01% of a blend of thyme and oregano EOs entrapped with charcoal (ROC+Th+Or). The results revealed that the entrapped EOs has no significant effect on feed intake. Weight gain markedly (P<0.05) increased with the blend of entrapped EOs for about 20% and 8% respectively during starter (days 1 to 21) and grower (days 22 to 49) phases compared to the control diet. The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was also recorded with the blended entrapped EOs. Feeding broilers with the EOs mixture markedly (P<0.05) increased lactic acid bacteria count compared to the pathogens counts in both the ileum and the Cæcum. The entrapped EOs markedly decreased serum content in aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT) and creatinin, and increased in total protein and albumin. Thyme and oregano EOs can be stabilized in chitosan and Canarium seeds charcoal for a better growth in broiler chickens.