The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets
This study investigated the effects of Thymus vulgaris extract (TVE) and probiotic (Protexin) on Arian broiler chickens fed low protein diets over 42 days. The 2 × 3 factorial experiment involved two dietary crude protein (CP) levels and three supplementations, each with five replicates of 10 birds....
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Poultry Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124011325 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832591835014365184 |
|---|---|
| author | Ali Golshahi Mahmoud Shams Shargh Behrouz Dastar Enayat Rahmatnejad |
| author_facet | Ali Golshahi Mahmoud Shams Shargh Behrouz Dastar Enayat Rahmatnejad |
| author_sort | Ali Golshahi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigated the effects of Thymus vulgaris extract (TVE) and probiotic (Protexin) on Arian broiler chickens fed low protein diets over 42 days. The 2 × 3 factorial experiment involved two dietary crude protein (CP) levels and three supplementations, each with five replicates of 10 birds. The CP levels included a control group and a low-CP group with 5% reduced CP content. The supplementations were: no additive, probiotic at 0.1 g/kg diet, and TVE at 1 ml/L drinking water. GC-MS analysis of TVE identified linalool (28.54%), carvacrol (20.22%), and thymol (7.07%) as key bioactive compounds. Low-CP diets increased feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) during the grower period (P > 0.05). Additives boosted FI and body weight gain (BWG) during the starter period, with probiotics having a stronger effect (P < 0.05). TVE improved protein efficiency ratio (PER) and energy efficiency ratio (EER), while both TVE and probiotics enhanced European production efficiency factor (EPEF) to levels like normal-CP diets (P < 0.05). Intestinal morphology was unaffected by treatments (P > 0.05). Low-CP diets reduced serum albumin levels (P < 0.05). TVE lowered serum cholesterol and triglycerides, while probiotic reduced triglycerides (P < 0.05). TVE also decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and probiotics reduced alanine transaminase (ALT) compared to control (P < 0.05). Cholesterol levels decreased with the normal diet combined with TVE, while TG levels were reduced with the diets combined with TVE and probiotics (P < 0.05). ALP and ALT levels dropped with low-CP × TVE and normal diet × probiotic, respectively (P < 0.05). Low-CP diets and TVE groups showed reduced litter nitrogen (P < 0.05). These results suggest that probiotics and TVE can alleviate the negative effects of low-CP diets on broiler performance. Additionally, probiotics and TVE improve blood biochemistry and litter quality in broiler chickens. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4771e3d667c64a0c930396b5e2ad1d46 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0032-5791 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Poultry Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-4771e3d667c64a0c930396b5e2ad1d462025-01-22T05:40:27ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912025-01-011041104554The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein dietsAli Golshahi0Mahmoud Shams Shargh1Behrouz Dastar2Enayat Rahmatnejad3Department of Animal and Poultry Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, IranDepartment of Animal and Poultry Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, IranDepartment of Animal and Poultry Nutrition, Faculty of Animal Science, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, IranDepartment of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, 75169, Iran.; Corresponding author.This study investigated the effects of Thymus vulgaris extract (TVE) and probiotic (Protexin) on Arian broiler chickens fed low protein diets over 42 days. The 2 × 3 factorial experiment involved two dietary crude protein (CP) levels and three supplementations, each with five replicates of 10 birds. The CP levels included a control group and a low-CP group with 5% reduced CP content. The supplementations were: no additive, probiotic at 0.1 g/kg diet, and TVE at 1 ml/L drinking water. GC-MS analysis of TVE identified linalool (28.54%), carvacrol (20.22%), and thymol (7.07%) as key bioactive compounds. Low-CP diets increased feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) during the grower period (P > 0.05). Additives boosted FI and body weight gain (BWG) during the starter period, with probiotics having a stronger effect (P < 0.05). TVE improved protein efficiency ratio (PER) and energy efficiency ratio (EER), while both TVE and probiotics enhanced European production efficiency factor (EPEF) to levels like normal-CP diets (P < 0.05). Intestinal morphology was unaffected by treatments (P > 0.05). Low-CP diets reduced serum albumin levels (P < 0.05). TVE lowered serum cholesterol and triglycerides, while probiotic reduced triglycerides (P < 0.05). TVE also decreased alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and probiotics reduced alanine transaminase (ALT) compared to control (P < 0.05). Cholesterol levels decreased with the normal diet combined with TVE, while TG levels were reduced with the diets combined with TVE and probiotics (P < 0.05). ALP and ALT levels dropped with low-CP × TVE and normal diet × probiotic, respectively (P < 0.05). Low-CP diets and TVE groups showed reduced litter nitrogen (P < 0.05). These results suggest that probiotics and TVE can alleviate the negative effects of low-CP diets on broiler performance. Additionally, probiotics and TVE improve blood biochemistry and litter quality in broiler chickens.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124011325Broiler chickenLow-protein dietPerformanceProbioticThyme |
| spellingShingle | Ali Golshahi Mahmoud Shams Shargh Behrouz Dastar Enayat Rahmatnejad The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets Poultry Science Broiler chicken Low-protein diet Performance Probiotic Thyme |
| title | The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets |
| title_full | The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets |
| title_fullStr | The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets |
| title_short | The effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low-protein diets |
| title_sort | effect of thymus vulgaris extract and probiotic on growth performance blood parameters intestinal morphology and litter quality of broiler chickens fed low protein diets |
| topic | Broiler chicken Low-protein diet Performance Probiotic Thyme |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579124011325 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aligolshahi theeffectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT mahmoudshamsshargh theeffectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT behrouzdastar theeffectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT enayatrahmatnejad theeffectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT aligolshahi effectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT mahmoudshamsshargh effectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT behrouzdastar effectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets AT enayatrahmatnejad effectofthymusvulgarisextractandprobioticongrowthperformancebloodparametersintestinalmorphologyandlitterqualityofbroilerchickensfedlowproteindiets |