Probiotics and medicinal plants in poultry nutrition: a review

The use of medicinal plants and probiotics has recently gained interest since the ban on the use of antibiotics as growth promoters by the European Union in 2006. They are new alternatives to bridge the gap between food safety and production. Medicinal plants are cheaper and loaded with several minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals such as: alkaloids, saponin, flavonoids, phenols, tannins etc. which allows them to perform multiple biological activities. Probiotics on the other hand, repopulates the gastro intestinal tracts (GIT) with beneficial bacteria which controls the action of pathogens and control their population, thereby reducing mortality and improving general performance of an animal.