Publication: Oregano Essential Oil and Purple Garlic Powder Effects on Intestinal Health, Microbiota Indicators and Antimicrobial Resistance as Feed Additives in Weaning Piglets
Authors
Serrano-Jara, Daniel ; Rivera-Gomis, Jorge ; Tornel, José Antonio ; Jordán, María José ; Martínez-Conesa, Cristina ; Cubero Pablo, María José
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Publisher
MDPI
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010111
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Abstract
Finding alternatives to zinc oxide is a pressing issue for the pig production sector. We
studied the impact of the bioactive components degradation of oregano essential oil (OEO) and
purple garlic powder (PGP) during storage in silos, their effect on the morphometry of the jejunum
and ileum and the cecal microbiota as intestinal health indicators in piglets during the post-weaning
period. We also monitored antimicrobial resistance in the commensal indicator E. coli. Histological
parameters and intestinal microbiota were measured in 140 piglets weaned at 21 days of age. Seven
dietary treatments were used: a negative control group (basal diet), a positive control group with
ZnO (3000 mg/kg of food), two groups with OEO at 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively, two groups with
PGP 0.4% and 2%, respectively, and a group with OEO with 1.2% combined with PGP with 2%.
Each group of piglets received the treatment for seven weeks, from weaning, before samples were
taken. Antibiotic resistance profiles were measured in 81 E. coli strains. On this occasion, only the
control groups, ZnO, OEO 1.2%, PGP 2% and OEO 1.2% + PGP 2% were used, and the samples were obtained from the cecal content. A progressive loss of the bioactive components of OEO and PGP was
observed during the 34 days of storage (p < 0.05). PGP 2%, OEO 1.2% and their combination showed
results similar to ZnO (p > 0.05), or superior in the study of intestinal morphometry and the values of
E. coli and Lactobacillus. All categories showed high levels of resistance. Only the strains isolated from
the OEO 1.2% group did not show resistance to colistin and presented the lowest resistance values.
In general, high doses of the additives studied showed the best results, obtaining levels like or higher
than those offered by ZnO.
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