Journal of Applied Poultry Research最新文献

{"title":"Impact of acidified clay and sodium bisulfate on litter ammonia, pH, total aerobic plate counts and broiler footpad dermatitis","authors":"J.B. Payne ,&nbsp;D.M. Miles ,&nbsp;K.L. Moncada ,&nbsp;K. Gardner","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100597","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100597","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Acidified clay and sodium bisulfate are common litter amendments utilized to control ammonia and lower pH in poultry litter. Three separate pen trials were conducted to compare the efficacy of both amendments for controlling litter ammonia, pH, total aerobic plate counts (APC), and improving footpad lesions in commercial broilers. A commercial broiler research farm was chosen as the test site. Day-old broiler chicks were placed in 40 pens (60 per pen for a total of 2400 birds) on used pine shavings. Pens were blocked within the house. Prior to placement pens were de-caked and top dressed as necessary. Treatments consisted of (1) control; (2) acidified clay and (3) sodium bisulfate. Composite litter surface samples were collected from each pen and analyzed for pH and APC on days 0-5. Litter surface ammonia concentrations were measured on days 0-5. Ammonia flux measurements were recorded on days 3 and 6. Broiler footpad lesion scores were assessed on day 38. Ammonia, pH, total APC and ammonia flux values were significantly lower in treated litter compared to values in the control. Ammonia concentrations in the acidified clay group were significantly lower than values in the sodium bisulfate group. On day 1, pH and total APC values in the acidified clay treated litter were lower than values in the sodium bisulfate treated litter. Average footpad lesion scores within a pen were significantly higher in the control group as compared to the acidified clay and sodium bisulfate groups. Additionally, average footpad lesion scores were significantly higher in the sodium bisulfate group as compared to the acidified clay group. Both litter amendments proved effective for controlling ammonia, pH, total APC and improving footpad dermatitis, supporting greater broiler rearing efficiency, productivity, and marketable broiler paws.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100597"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chlorella vulgaris supplementation in broiler feed: relation between dosage and effect on intestinal health under an Eimeria vaccine challenge","authors":"Sofie Van Nerom ,&nbsp;Kobe Buyse ,&nbsp;Filip Van Immerseel ,&nbsp;Johan Robbens ,&nbsp;Evelyne Delezie","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100625","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100625","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The broiler industry is facing increasing challenges due to the intensification of production and the associated rise in intestinal health issues. <em>Chlorella vulgaris</em>, a nutrient-rich microalga, may offer a sustainable antibiotic alternative to support gut health through its bioactive compounds. In this study, a dose-response trial was conducted to evaluate the health-promoting potential of microdoses (0-2%) of autotrophically grown <em>C. vulgaris</em> in broiler diets. Broilers were subjected to a mild <em>Eimeria</em> challenge to mimic industrial conditions and to induce stress in the intestinal tract. No significant linear relations were found between <em>C. vulgaris</em> inclusion level and intestinal histomorphology parameters. However, antioxidant capacity showed a trend toward linear increases with increasing algae inclusion. Feed viscosity increased significantly with <em>C. vulgaris</em> inclusion in the starter phase and fecal viscosity on day 23 showed a positive linear relation. A linear increase in breast meat redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) was observed on days 16 and 23. Body weight development and organ growth (bursa and spleen) were not significantly affected. In conclusion, while inclusion of <em>C. vulgaris</em> at microdose levels did not significantly alter intestinal morphology or growth performance, trends in antioxidant capacity, meat color, and spleen growth suggest potential health-promoting effects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100625"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145358504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of tryptophan supplementation in diets containing naturally contaminated corn with aflatoxin on growth performance, carcass traits, blood biochemistry, locomotor disorders, and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens","authors":"Saeed Ghasemi,&nbsp;Mohammad Hossein Shahir","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100624","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100624","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary tryptophan supplementation on the performance and health of broilers fed a diet containing moldy corn. In a completely randomized design, 420 five-day-old male broiler chickens were allocated to three dietary treatments for 23 days, each with ten replicates of 14 birds. The dietary treatments were: a control group (with uncontaminated corn), the MC group (where half of the corn in the control diet was replaced with the naturally contaminated moldy corn caused 7.6, 8.61, and 8.94 ppb aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in the starter, grower, and finisher diets, respectively), and the MCTrp group (the MC diet plus 0.1 % L-tryptophan). Feeding the MC diet significantly impaired (P &lt; 0.05) body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI), and feed conversion ratio (FCR), as well as carcass yield and the relative weights of breast and thigh, compared to the control group. The birds fed the MC diet had lower (P &lt; 0.05) intestinal weight and villus height (VH). Feeding the MC diet led to deteriorated (P &lt; 0.05) gait scores and induced femoral head necrosis (FHN). Tryptophan supplementation (MCTrp) was effective (P &lt; 0.05) in alleviating the adverse effects of moldy corn inclusion on VH, gait score, serum alanine transaminase (ALT), and interleukin 6 (IL-6). In conclusion, marginally exceeding regulatory limits of mycotoxins in naturally contaminated corn impairs the performance and health of broiler chickens, and dietary tryptophan supplementation can mitigate some of the negative effects caused by the mycotoxins.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100624"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145358505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reliability of Palpation using three-dimensional keel bone models","authors":"E. Çavuşoğlu ,&nbsp;M.J. Toscano ,&nbsp;S.G. Gebhardt-Henrich","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100579","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100579","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Keel bone damage (KBD), including both deviations and fractures, is an important and wide-spread animal welfare problem of laying hens especially in non-cage housing systems. Diagnosis of its prevalence is the first step in finding solutions. The aim of this study was to increase the reliability of diagnosis of KBD by palpation using three-dimensional (3D) keel bone models. An online training session was organized about how to use 3D models of 3 different severity levels of keel bone damage as a tagged tactile analogue scale. After the online training took place, the participating groups were asked to score the keel bone damage levels of 20 laying hens at each of their respective facilities with and without using the models (40 hens in total) on a continuous scale. The repeatabilities of the scoring results of 37 people from 11 groups (countries) were computed with the R-package rptR to test whether the use of models increased the reliability of the scores. In general, the repeatabilities of the scores on a continuous and a binary scale were low. Contrary to expectations, the use of 3D models did not increase the reliability in scoring KBD by palpation. In future studies with these models, a more even distribution of KBD among groups and on-site instead of online training might give more reliable results.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100579"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144711769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of dietary turmeric and ginger powder on performance, serum chemistry and gut microbiota in laying hens","authors":"Z. Li ,&nbsp;M. Qumar ,&nbsp;M. Irfan ,&nbsp;M.T. Khan ,&nbsp;G. Faran ,&nbsp;G. Abbas ,&nbsp;K. Prince ,&nbsp;G.A. Dilbar ,&nbsp;M.A. Gondal ,&nbsp;M. Rauf ,&nbsp;I. Ahmed ,&nbsp;M. Ilyas ,&nbsp;A. Hussain ,&nbsp;H. Yuan ,&nbsp;Dalia Fouad","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100605","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100605","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the effects of dietary supplementation with turmeric and ginger on the performance of laying hens. A total of 160 commercial Hi-Sex White caged laying hens were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments, each consisting of five replicates of eight birds, using a completely randomized design (CRD). Group T₁ served as the control and received only the basal diet, while groups T₂, T₃, and T₄ were supplemented with 1.0 % turmeric + 0.5 % ginger, 0.5 % turmeric + 1.0 % ginger, and 0.75 % turmeric + 0.75 % ginger, respectively. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks, from 45 to 54 weeks of age. The results demonstrated that the T₄ group (0.75 % turmeric + 0.75 % ginger) exhibited reduced feed intake, enhanced egg production, and an improved feed conversion ratio compared to the other groups (<em>P</em> <em>&lt;</em> 0.0001). All supplemented groups produced significantly heavier eggs than the control (<em>P</em> <em>&lt;</em> 0.0001). Hematological analysis revealed elevated red blood cell counts (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.001) and hemoglobin levels (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.037) in the T₄ group, along with increased white blood cell counts in the T₂, T₃, and T₄ groups (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.003). Biochemical analysis indicated a significant reduction in blood urea nitrogen across all supplemented groups (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.001), with a marked decrease in total cholesterol observed only in the T₄ group (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.001). Although the <em>Escherichia coli</em> count in the T₄ group was slightly higher (<em>P</em> <em>=</em> 0.001) than in the T₂ and T₃ groups, this did not negatively affect the birds’ health or performance. Overall, the T₄ diet supported superior productivity, favorable physiological responses, and an improved serum lipid profile. These findings suggest that a balanced dietary inclusion of turmeric and ginger at 0.75 % each may be an effective strategy to enhance the performance and health of laying hens.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100605"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145219128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applied research note: Understanding varying levels of hydrogen peroxide residuals in poultry drinking water in early broiler growth performance","authors":"Biswajit Kumar Biswas ,&nbsp;Md Raihanul Hoque ,&nbsp;Rabin Raut ,&nbsp;Tom Tabler ,&nbsp;Thyneice Taylor-Bowden ,&nbsp;Samuel Nahashon ,&nbsp;Pramir Maharjan","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100577","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100577","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) based products are used to sanitize poultry drinking water supplies; however, the effects of their higher residual levels on broiler performance remain unstudied. This study investigated the effects of different residual peroxide concentrations in drinking water on early broiler growth and amino acid (AA) digestibility. A total of 100 Cobb 500 male chicks reared on a corn–soy starter diet from d 0 to 13 were assigned to 5 treatment groups. Four stock solutions were prepared by mixing the H₂O₂ product with water at the following ratios: T1 (2:32), T2 (4:32), T3 (8:32), and T4 (16:32); and 1 mL of each stock solution was diluted with 100 mL of drinking water to create the drinking water treatments. The initial H₂O₂ residual concentrations in drinking water were approximately 17.6 ppm for T1, 33.3 ppm for T2, 60 ppm for T3, and 100 ppm for T4. After 24 h, the residuals dropped to approximately &lt;10 ppm in T1, &lt;30 ppm in T2, &lt;50 ppm in T3, and remained ≤90 ppm in T4. Municipal water free of H₂O₂ and Cl served as the control (CON). Growth performances, AA digestibility, and water intake (WI) were recorded for treatment groups. The treated groups (T2 &amp; T4) showed a higher body weight gain (BWG) and a lower FCR compared to the CON (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Additionally, the digestibility of essential (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine) and non-essential (alanine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline, tyrosine) amino acids improved with these treatments. Results showed that all the tested levels of H₂O₂ residuals in drinking water (up to 100 ppm) can be safely used for sanitizing poultry drinking water supplies without compromising amino acid digestibility or early bird performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100577"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144771057","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Capsulation as a strategy for oral delivery of immunoglobulin Y in broilers challenged with Escherichia coli O78:K80","authors":"Bahareh Eskandari ,&nbsp;Shaban Rahimi ,&nbsp;Mohammad Amir Karimi Torshizi ,&nbsp;Tayebeh Toliyat ,&nbsp;Nazanin Soltani ,&nbsp;Jesse Grimes","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100632","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100632","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Egg yolk immunoglobulin Y (<strong>IgY</strong>) can be used as an alternative to antibiotics for preventing and treating intestinal pathogenic infections. In the present study, sixty Lohmann-LSL-Lite laying hens were immunized intramuscularly with formaldehyde-killed whole-cell <em>E. coli</em> antigens. Lyophilized antibodies were obtained from eggs and encapsulated with sodium alginate, beta-cyclodextrin/alginate, and methacrylic acid co-polymer (L100–55). A total of 450 day-old ROSS 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated into six groups (five replicates of 15 birds each) to evaluate the protective effects of IgY. The groups were as follows: Negative control (NC) — unchallenged and unsupplemented; Positive control (PC) — challenged with <em>E. coli</em> O78, unsupplemented; Non-encapsulated IgY (Non-ECIgY) — challenged and given 5 g/kg IgY powder; IgY-eudragit pellet (IgY-EP) — challenged and given 10 g/kg IgY-EP; IgY-beta-cyclodextrin-alginate microcapsules (IgY-βCyD-Alg) — challenged and given 11 g/kg IgY-βCyD-Alg; and IgY-alginate microcapsules (IgY-Alg) — challenged and given 12.5 g/kg IgY-Alg. Dietary supplementation with both encapsulated and non-encapsulated IgY significantly enhanced (P &lt; 0.05) performance and intestinal histology compared to the PC group. However, the improvements (P &lt; 0.05) were more pronounced in the encapsulated IgY group. The total number of <em>E. coli</em> in ceca and liver of birds fed with encapsulated IgY was lower (P &lt; 0.05) than non-encapsulated IgY. Therefore, encapsulated IgY improved the efficacy of IgY against <em>E. coli</em> in broiler chickens because the encapsulation of IgY could protect it from gastrointestinal inactivation and enhance its delivery to the intestines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100632"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145462541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of phytase products on performance and bone mineralization in low non-phytate phosphorus corn and soybean meal-based broiler starter diets","authors":"Elizabeth Lynch ,&nbsp;K. Bowen ,&nbsp;L. Knarr ,&nbsp;E. Estanich ,&nbsp;R. Adejumo ,&nbsp;J. Moritz","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100622","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100622","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The objective of this study was to evaluate corn/soybean meal-based starter diets that exclude inorganic P or contain low non-phytate phosphorous with phytase supplementation on bird performance, bone mineralization, and the effect on dicalcium phosphate equivalency. A PC and four NC treatments with graded levels of nPP were used to create a standard curve of increasing nPP levels. Phytase A was added to the NC1 (no DCP, nPP= 0.13 %) at 1,500 FTU/kg and 2,000FTU/kg (to overcome the low nPP value). Phytases A, B, and C were added to the NC2 (nPP=0.22 %) at 1,500FTU/kg to provide a commercially available phytase product comparison. Phytase A was also added to the PC (nPP= 0.5 %) at 1,500 FTU/ kg. Linear and quadratic regressions using SAS PROC REG were conducted to determine impacts of increasing levels of nPP. The NC1 and NC2 nPP level in a broiler starter mash diet decreased bird performance and bone parameters relative to a similar Ca:nPP ratio of the PC diet (0.95:0.5, <em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). A 1,500 FTU/kg inclusion of phytase A increased LWG, IBW, Pen FI, and tibia mineralization when compared to a 0.22 % nPP NC2 diet or NC2 diet containing either phytase B or C (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Mortality for this study was not significant despite the low nPP level (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). The addition of phytase products to diets was not able to overcome nutrient detriment in inorganic phosphate free diets and varied in effectiveness in 0.22 % nPP diets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100622"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145462549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Screening of lactic acid bacteria from Hotan black chicken and comprehensive evaluation of the potential probiotic Pediococcus pentosaceus HBC","authors":"R. Gao ,&nbsp;Z. Chen ,&nbsp;J. He ,&nbsp;X. Feng ,&nbsp;C. Shi ,&nbsp;M. Tuniyazi ,&nbsp;H. Wang ,&nbsp;A. Reheman ,&nbsp;M. Qi","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100609","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100609","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To identify novel probiotics from indigenous avian sources, we isolated seven lactic acid bacterial (LAB) strains from the intestinal tracts of the Hotan black chicken, a native breed from Xinjiang, China. A preliminary safety screening based on hemolytic activity resulted in the exclusion of four isolates. The remaining three non-hemolytic strains were subsequently subjected to a systematic evaluation for key probiotic atributes, including tolerance to acid and bile salts, auto-aggregation, surface hydrophobicity, cell adhesion, and antimicrobial activity. Among these, <em>Pediococcus pentosaceus</em> HBC demonstrated the most promising probiotic profile and was selected for in-depth phenotypic and genomic characterization. Phenotypically, <em>Pediococcus pentosaceus</em> HBC exhibited exceptional resilience, with high survival rates under acidic (48% at pH 2.0) and bile salt (70% at 0.3%) conditions. It also displayed strong surface properties, including significant hydrophobicity (&gt;49%), auto-aggregation capacity (&gt;34%), and epithelial cell adhesion (&gt;84%). Furthermore, the strain showed broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against major poultry pathogens such as <em>Salmonella</em> and <em>E. coli</em>. Genomic analysis corroborated these findings, revealing a versatile genetic repertoire for carbohydrate metabolism, stress adaptation, and antimicrobial functions. Crucially, the analysis affirmed its safety profile by indicating a low risk of virulence and antibiotic resistance gene transfer. These comprehensive characteristics strongly support the potential of <em>Pediococcus pentosaceus</em> HBC as a safe and efficacious probiotic candidate for enhancing gut health and disease resistance in poultry production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100609"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145320250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antimicrobial and prebiotic effects of Telfairia occidentalis leaf extract on cecal bacteria in Cobb 500 broiler chickens","authors":"Koffi Gilbert Lakpo ,&nbsp;Claude Cocou Kpomasse ,&nbsp;Oumbortine N’nanle ,&nbsp;Kossi Metowogo ,&nbsp;Kokou Tona","doi":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100615","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.japr.2025.100615","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the rising concern over antibiotic resistance, the search for natural alternatives to enhance poultry intestinal health has intensified. <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> leaves, known for their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, could serve as a promising prebiotic in poultry feed. This study aimed to assess the antimicrobial and prebiotic effects of <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> leaf extract on cecal microbiota in broilers chickens. A total of 600 Cobb 500 chicks were divided into four groups: a control (C) receiving the basal diet, an antibiotic group receiving 0.5 g/L of Tetracolivit (T), and two groups receiving either 1 mL (TOE-1) or 2 mL (TOE-2) of hydroethanolic <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> leaf extract. The phytochemical and antioxidant properties of the extract were evaluated, bacterial populations were quantified on days 21 and 49, and intestinal pH was measured<strong>.</strong> The results show that the leaves of <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> contain moderate levels of total polyphenols (173.7 ± 0.05 mg GAE/g DM), flavonoids (139.62 ± 0.06 mg QE/g DM) and a high concentration in condensed tannins (224.5 ± 0.03 CE/g DM). The extract exhibited strong antioxidant activity and bactericidal effects against various microorganisms. By day 21, groups supplemented with <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> significantly reduced <em>Escherichia coli</em>, total coliforms, enterobacteria, streptococci, staphylococci, and salmonella populations, while increasing Lactobacillus levels (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). By day 49, total coliforms, <em>E. coli</em>, enterobacteria, staphylococci, and salmonella levels remained affected (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05), while streptococci levels did not vary significantly (<em>p</em> &gt; 0.05) in the groups supplemented with <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> leaves extract. <em>Clostridium perfringens</em> and <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em> populations were absent throughout the experimental period. Intestinal pH decreased (4.59 ± 0.01) in TOE-2 (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.05) compared to the control group (5.58 ± 0.02), fostering beneficial bacterial growth.</div><div>Oral administration of <em>Telfairia occidentalis</em> leaf extract effectively modulates cecal microbiota, enhances intestinal health, and supports broiler growth, presenting a viable alternative to antibiotic growth promoters in poultry production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15240,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Applied Poultry Research","volume":"34 4","pages":"Article 100615"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145358501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}