Benzoic Acid and Essential Oils in Broiler Diets

Use of a Combination of Benzoic Acid and Essential Oils in Broiler Diets

Published: September 18, 2012

By: Iglesias, Bernardo Fabricio; Azcona, Jorge Oscar (Sección Aves, INTA – EEA Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Lombardi, Carolina; Hernández, José María (DSM Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina); Liñeiro, Máximo (Granja Tres Arroyos, Capilla del Señor, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Summary

Benzoic acid provides an effective control against fungi, yeasts and bacteria (e.g. E.coli and Salmonella). Essential oils can inhibit Clostridium perfringens and stimulate the secretion of endogenous digestive enzymes (e.g. amylase and lipase). A trial was performed to evaluate the effect of benzoic acid in combination with essential oils (thymol, eugenol and piperine) –feed additive known as Crina Poultry Plus^®(CPP)– on broilers performance under field conditions. A total of 105,670 1-d-old Cobb-500 chicks were assigned to 2 treatments with 5 replicates (flock houses) of ~10,600 birds each in a randomized complete design. Diets were formulated according to the standards of Granja Tres Arroyos Company using corn, soybean meal, toasted full fat soybean and meat and bone meal as mayor ingredients. Two treatments were compared, Probiotic (B.subtilis, 500ppm) and CPP (300ppm). Data was subjected to ANOVA andDuncan’s multiple range test (α error=0.10). At the end of the trial (47 days old) a significant reduction in mortality (26%) was observed with CPP (p≤0.10). CPP treatment also showed a trend to greater body weight (+2.6%), and European production efficiency factor (+8.9%) than the Probiotic diet (p≤0.15). Feed intake and feed conversion ratio also were numerically improved by CPP; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Based on these results, the production cost with CPP was 4% lower (-0.03 USD/kg body weight) than the Probiotic diet. In conclusion, the combination of benzoic acid with a mixture of essential oils could be successfully used as a growth promoter under field commercial conditions.

KEY WORDS: Thymol, Eugenol, Piperine, Animal performance

INTRODUCTION

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 105,670 1-day-old mixed sexes Cobb-500 chicks were assigned to 2 treatments and 5 reps (poultry houses) of ~10,600 birds each in completely random design. The rearing period was of 47 days at the farm San Justo4, Entre Rios, Argentina. The date of admission was August 5, 2011. Pelletized feed were supplied ad-libitum. The treatments were T1: Control diet with commercial probiotic and prebiotic (Probiotic: 500 ppm from 1 to 47 d, Prebiotic: 400 ppm from 1 to 9 and 500 ppm from 10 to 23 d), and T2: Crina Poultry Plus^® 300 ppm from 1 to 47 d. The ingredients used in experimental diets were corn, soybean meal, toasted full fat soybean and meat and bone meal (Table 1). Diets were formulated according to the standards of Granja Tres Arroyos in order to achieve the maximum zootechnical results. At the end of the rearing period analyzed data was feed intake, body weight, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio, cumulative mortality and European production efficiency factor.

Data was subjected to ANOVA where every poultry house was designed as an experimental unit. Means separation was performed using Duncan’s multiple range test (Balzarini et al., 2008). Statistical significance was considered at p≤0.10.

Table 1. Diets

Use of a Combination of Benzoic Acid and Essential Oils in Broiler Diets - Image 1

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Animal performance results are summarized in Table 2.

Table 2. Animal performance results at 47 days old

Use of a Combination of Benzoic Acid and Essential Oils in Broiler Diets - Image 2

At the end of the rearing period (47 days) mortality was lower (p≤0.10) when Crina Poultry Plus^® replaced the standard prebiotic (Control). A difference of 1.22 percentage points was found between treatments. In the other hand, chickens fed diets with Crina Poultry Plus^® show a tendency (p≤0.15) to increase body weight and European production efficiency factor. These results are in agreement with previous reports (Frankic et al., 2009; Frehner et al., 2009). The small magnitude of the differences found between treatments could be explained by de fact that both products (probiotic + prebiotic and Crina Poultry Plus^®) control the development of potentially pathogenic bacteria.

In this trial, the production cost for the Crina Poultry Plus^® diet was 4% lower (-0.13 AR$/kg body weight) than the Control diet.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, the probiotic (Control) and Crina Poultry Plus^® had similar behavior in production conditions.

Crina Poultry Plus^® treatment presented less mortality than Control.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BALZARINI, M.G., GONZALEZ, L., TABLADA, M., CASANOVES, F., DI RIENZO, J.A. and ROBLEDO, C.W. (2008). Infostat. Manual del Usuario, Editorial Brujas,Córdoba,Argentina.

FRANKIC, T., VOLJC, M., SALOBIR, J AND REZAR, V. (2009) Use of herbs and spices and their extracts in animal nutrition. Acta Argiculturae Slovenica94: 95-102.

FREHNER, M., PAULUS, C., PHILIPPS, P. AND GADIENT, M. (2009) Use of organic acids and essential oils in animal feeding. United States Patent2009/0004308 A1.

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