Achyranthes japonica extract as phytogenic feed additive enhanced nutrient digestibility and growth performance in broiler.

Achyranthes japonica extract (AJE) is derived from a medicinal plant Achyranthes japonica, known for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties. AJE contains multiple bioactive compounds, including saponins, triterpenoids, phytoecdysteroids, 20-hydroxyecdysone, and inokosterone. The aim of this investigation was to examine the impact of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, excreta microbial count, noxious gas emissions, breast meat quality in broilers. About three hundred and sixty, day-old broilers (Ross 308) were assigned into four treatments (five replication cages/treatment, and 18 birds/cage). Dietary treatments: CON, basal diet; 0.02% AJE, basal diet with 0.02%; 0.04% AJE, basal diet with 0.04% AJE, and 0.06% AJE, basal diet with 0.06% of AJE. Body weight gain increased linearly (p < 0.05) through the inclusion of AJE during days 7 to 21, 21 to 35, as well as the entire experimental period. Besides, feed intake increased (p < 0.05) linearly during days 21 to 35 and the entire experiment with the increased AJE doses in broiler diet. Dry matter digestibility was increased (p < 0.05) linearly along with increasing amounts of AJE. With increasing AJE supplementation, nitrogen and energy utilization tended to improve (p < 0.10). In summary, the addition of AJE in the corn-soybean meal diet led to higher body weight gain and increased feed intake as well as enhanced nutrient digestibility, among them the highest improvement was found in 0.06%-AJE indicating the acceptance of AJE as a phytogenic feed additive.

Effect of dietary Achyranthes japonica extract on growth performance of growing pigs and absorption rate of quercetin in blood.

This study was done to investigate the effects of the incorporation of Achyranthes japonica extracts (AJE) in diet on the production parameters of growing pigs. Exp 1: Total, 105 crossbred pigs (average body weight: 24.47 ± 2.46 kg) were used in a 6-week feeding trial. Pigs (seven replicates, five pigs per pen) were allotted randomly to three treatments. Dietary treatments: CON (basal diet); basal diet with 0.025% AJE, and basal diet + 0.050% AJE). Growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbial count, and fecal noxious gas were assessed in this study. Average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) were not affected by the addition of up to 0.05% AJE. In the case of apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD), dry matter (DM), nitrogen (N), and digestible energy (DE) were not changed in 3rd and 6th weeks of the feeding trial through the addition of AJE up to 0.05% in the growing pig diet. In microbial count, Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli count at 3rd and 6th week was similar in all the treatment diets. The inclusion of AJE at levels up to 0.05% in growing pig diet had no effect on the production of NH3, H2S, acetic acid, and CO2 in the feces. After ending the Exp 1, a total of nine pigs were divided into three treatment groups. Treatment diets were included, TRT1, basal diet + powder quercetin 30 g; TRT2, basal diet + powder quercetin 150 g; TRT3, basal diet + powder quercetin 300g. Rate of absorption in blood was increased with the higher dose of quercetin. The results suggested incorporation of AJE up to 0.05% has no significant effect on ADG, ADFI, and G:F, as well as DM, N, and DE digestibility, fecal microbial count, and fecal noxious gas emission in growing pigs, even though no negative effect was found.

Strategies for reducing noxious gas emissions in pig production: a comprehensive review on the role of feed additives.

The emission of noxious gases is a significant problem in pig production, as it can lead to poor production, welfare concerns, and environmental pollution. The noxious gases are the gasses emitted from the pig manure that contribute to air pollution. The increased concentration of various harmful gasses can pose health risks to both animals and humans. The major gases produced in the pig farm include methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and volatile fatty acids, which are mainly derived from the fermentation of undigested or poorly digested nutrients. Nowadays research has focused on more holistic approaches to obtain a healthy farm environment that helps animal production. The use of probiotics, prebiotics, dietary enzymes, and medicinal plants in animal diets has been explored as a means of reducing harmful gas emissions. This review paper focuses on the harmful gas emissions from pig farm, the mechanisms of gas production, and strategies for reducing these emissions. Additionally, various methods for reducing gas in pigs, including probiotic interventions; prebiotic interventions, dietary enzymes supplementation, and use of medicinal plants and organic acids are discussed. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on reducing noxious gas in pigs and offers valuable insights for pig producers, nutritionists, and researchers working in this area.

Comparative effects of dietary herbal mixture or guanidinoacetic acid supplementation on growth performance, cecal microbiota, blood profile, excreta gas emission, and meat quality in Hanhyup-3-ho chicken.

Phytogenic feed additives are renowned for their growth promotion, gut health enhancement, and disease prevention properties, which is important factors for sustaining prolonged poultry rearing. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of herbal mixture (mixture of ginseng and artichoke) or guanidinoacetic acid (GAA) on growth performance, cecal microbiota, excretal gas emission, blood profile, and meat quality in Hanhyup-3-ho chicken. A total of 360 one-day-old chickens (half males and half females) were allocated into one of 3 dietary treatments (12 replicate cages/treatment; 10 broilers/replicate cage) for 100 d of age. Experimental diets were CON: basal diet; TRT1: basal diet combined with 0.05% herbal mixture; and TRT2: basal diet combined with 0.06% GAA. All birds received a basal diet during the first 30 d, but from d 31 to 100, an experimental diet was supplied. The addition of 0.05% herbal mixture improved the average body weight gain and feed conversion ratio from d 31 to 100 as well as the overall experimental period. The cecal Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella count remained consistent across all dietary treatments. Blood albumin and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) levels increased in the herbal mixture supplemented diet. Additionally, there was a notable reduction in excretal NH3 and H2S emissions in the herbal mixture group. Furthermore, the herbal mixture group exhibited increased breast muscle weight, improved breast muscle color, improved water holding capacity, and a decrease in abdominal fat compared to the control group. Additionally, the supplementation of 0.06% GAA did not demonstrate any statistically significant impact on any evaluated parameter throughout the experiment. The results from the present investigation underscore the potential of ginseng together with artichoke extract supplementation as a viable feed additive, conferring improvements in growth performance, feed efficiency, excreta gas emission, meat quality parameters, and defense mechanism against oxidative stress in Hanhyup-3-ho chicken.

Supplemental impact of silymarin in growing pig diet on the growth performance, total tract digestibility, faecal microflora, faecal noxious gas emission and absorption rate in blood.

The research was done to examine the impact of dietary silymarin on growth performance, total tract digestibility, faecal microbial, faecal gas emission and absorption rate in blood of growing pigs. Experiment 1: a total of 140 growing pigs (24.47 ± 2.49 kg) were used in a 6-week trial. There were four dietary treatment groups (seven replicate pens/treatment, five pigs/pen) and treatment diets composed of corn, soybean meal (SBM), distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), and rapeseed meal-based basal diets with 0%, 0.025%, 0.050% and 0.10% of micelle silymarin respectively. Experiment 2: A total of 18 pigs were divided into six treatment groups. Treatment diets: TRT1, TRT2 and TRT3 were basal diets with 30, 150 and 300 g powdered silymarin respectively; and TRT4, TRT5 and TRT6 were basal diets with 30, 150 and 300 g micelle-type silymarin respectively. Average daily gain (ADG) tended to increase (p < 0.10) at Week 3 and overall experiment after silymarin addition. Overall ADG and average daily feed intake are also intended to improve (p < 0.10) linearly in this study. During Week 6, growing pigs fed silymarin showed linearly increased (p < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, nitrogen and energy. Dietary silymarin supplementation increased (p < 0.10) linearly the faecal Lactobacillus count at Week 3 while Escherichia coli count was linearly decreased at both the 3rd week (p < 0.05) and 6th week (p < 0.10). Silymarin supplementation showed no effect on faecal gas emissions. A higher (p < 0.05) absorption rate in the blood was found in micelle-type silymarin compared to powdered silymarin after the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th and 24th h of feeding. Results suggest that silymarin in a corn-SBM-DDGS-rapeseed meal-based diet may help to improve ADG, FI, ATTD and faecal microflora in growing pigs. And absorption rate in the blood of pig is higher in micelle-type silymarin.