Effect of plant extracts derived from thyme and chamomile on the growth performance, gut morphology and immune system of broilers fed aflatoxin B₁ and ochratoxin A contaminated diets

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.) extract (CFE), thyme-oil extract (TOE).

Compound	Composition (%)
CFE
Chamazulene	6.40
Spiroether	5.10
Bisabolol	6.30
β-Farnesene	29.80
α-Farnesene	9.30
Germacrene	6.20
TOE
Carene	3.76
para-Cymene	8.41
gamma-Terpinene	30.90
Terpineol	0.47
Thymol	47.59
Caryophyllene	2.68

Table 2. Ingredients and compositions of the basal diets (as-fed basis).

Item	Starter (0–10 d)	Grower (11–28 d)
Ingredients, %
Maize	49.30	59.60
Wheat	5.31	5.00
Soybean meal, CP, 48%	26.86	16.05
Maize gluten	10.00	11.48
Soybean oil	3.50	3.34
Limestone	1.45	1.23
Dicalcium phosphate	1.95	1.80
Salt	0.36	0.36
dl-Met	0.52	0.58
l-Lys	0.25	0.06
Vitamin-mineral premix^a	0.50	0.50
Calculated composition, %
ME, kcal/kg	3010.00	3150.00
CP	22.60	20.11
Calcium	1.00	0.90
Available phosphorus	0.50	0.45
Lys	1.41	1.16
Met	0.68	0.52
Met + Cys	1.09	0.81
Analysed composition, %
DM	94.20	95.11
CP	22.62	20.56
Fat	5.27	5.78

^aVitamin and mineral premix supplied the following (per kilogram of diet): vitamin A (from vitamin A acetate), 10,000 U; vitamin D₃, 9790 U; vitamin E (dl-α-tocopheryl acetate), 30 U; vitamin B₁₂, 20 μg; riboflavin, 4.4 mg; calcium pantothenate, 40 mg; niacin, 22 mg; choline, 840 mg; biotin, 30 μg; thiamine, 4 mg; zinc sulphate, 60 mg; copper sulphate, 100 μg; selenium (sodium selenate), 0.2 mg; iodine, 1 mg; manganese oxide, 60 mg.

ME: metabolizable energy; CP: crude protein; DM: dry matter.

Table 3. Effects of dietary chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.) extract (CFE), thyme-oil extract (TOE), aflatoxin B₁ (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) on growth performance of broilers.

Treatment	Final BW	d 0–10			d 11–28			d 0–28
		ADFI, g	ADG, g	FCR	ADFI, g	ADG, g	FCR	ADFI, g	ADG, g	FCR
Control (CON)	1437.000	28.300	23.000	1.230	95.200	64.300	1.180	71.300^b	49.600^b	1.440
CON + 0.50 AFB, mg/kg	1377.000	27.600	22.900	1.210	89.400	61.200	1.460	67.300^c	47.500^c	1.410
CON + 0.25 OTA, mg/kg	1372.000	29.000	23.100	1.260	88.500	60.700	1.450	67.200^c	47.300^c	1.420
CON + AFB + OTA	1399.000	28.700	23.400	1.230	88.700	62.200	1.430	67.300^c	48.300^c	1.390
3 CFE, g/kg	1670.000	30.200	25.400	1.190	99.700	76.200	1.310	74.900^a	58.000^a	1.290
3 CFE, g/kg + 0.50 AFB, mg/kg	1565.000	29.100	25.300	1.150	93.300	70.200	1.320	70.400^b	54.200^b	1.300
3 CFE, g/kg + 0.25 OTA, mg/kg	1553.000	30.400	25.600	1.190	91.700	69.500	1.320	69.800^b	53.800^b	1.300
3 CFE, g/kg + AFB + OTA	1528.000	29.800	25.300	1.180	90.500	68.300	1.330	68.800^b	52.900^b	1.300
3 TOE, g/kg	1670.000	30.000	24.700	1.210	99.200	76.500	1.300	74.500^a	58.000^a	1.280
3 TOE, g/kg + 0.50 AFB, mg/kg	1520.000	28.700	24.600	1.170	92.700	68.300	1.360	69.800^b	52.600^b	1.330
3 TOE, g/kg + 0.25 OTA, mg/kg	1540.000	28.900	24.800	1.160	92.400	69.100	1.340	69.700^b	53.300^b	1.310
3 TOE, g/kg + AFB + OTA	1457.000	29.500	24.900	1.180	89.300	64.400	1.390	67.900^bc	50.300^b	1.350
SEM	2.400	0.270	0.240	0.010	1.630	1.180	0.075	1.060	0.970	0.031
Main effect
Diet
Control (CON)	1396.000^b	28.400	23.100	1.230	90.400^b	62.100^b	1.460^a	68.300	48.200	1.420^a
CON + 3 CFE, g/kg	1579.000^a	29.900	25.400	1.200	93.800^a	71.000^a	1.320^b	71.000	54.700	1.300^b
CON + 3 TOE, g/kg	1547.000^a	29.400	24.800	1.210	93.400^a	69.600^a	1.340^b	70.500	53.600	1.320^b
Challenge
No challenge	1592.000^a	29.500	24.400	1.210	98.000^a	72.300^a	1.320^b	73.600	55.200	1.310^b
0.50 AFB, mg/kg	1487.000^b	28.500	24.300	1.170	91.800^b	66.500^ab	1.390^a	69.200	51.400	1.350^a
0.25 OTA, mg/kg	1488.000^b	29.400	24.500	1.200	90.900^b	66.400^ab	1.370^a	68.900	51.500	1.340^a
AFB + OTA	1462.000^b	29.300	24.500	1.200	89.500^b	65.000^b	1.380^a	68.000	50.500	1.350^a
SEM	2.300	0.260	0.220	0.011	1.650	1.170	0.072	1.050	0.980	0.032
p Value
Diet	.004	.112	.243	.204	.015	.012	<.001	.011	.018	<.001
Challenge	.002	.108	.191	.212	.002	.004	<.001	.003	.006	<.001
Diet × challenge	.096	.285	.117	.188	.105	.231	.142	.019	.027	.238

AFB + OTA: 0.50 AFB mg/kg + 0.25 OTA mg/kg; ADFI: average daily feed intake; ADG: average daily gain; FCR: feed conversion ratio.

^a,b,cMeans in the same column without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 4. Effects of dietary chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.) extract (CFE), thyme-oil extract (TOE), aflatoxin B₁ (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) on gut morphology of broilers.

Main effects	Relative weight, % of BW				Jejunum morphology, µm
	Crop	Gizzard	Liver	Pancreas	VH	CD	VH/CD
Diet
Control (CON)	0.3220	2.6520	2.5330	0.3250	867.0000	292.0000	2.9700
CON + 3 CFE, g/kg	0.3150	2.2650	2.3550	0.2750	874.0000	289.0000	3.0200
CON + 3 TOE, g/kg	0.3210	2.2800	2.3780	0.2630	878.0000	288.0000	3.0500
Challenge
No challenge	0.3220	1.8870^b	2.0670^b	0.2170^b	927.0000^a	282.0000	3.2900^a
0.50 AFB, mg/kg	0.3240	2.3500^ab	2.5300^ab	0.2730^ab	854.0000^b	292.0000	2.9300^b
0.25 OTA, mg/kg	0.3160	2.6730^a	2.6570^a	0.3200^a	888.0000^b	291.0000	3.0500^b
AFB + OTA	0.3170	2.6870^a	2.7330^a	0.3410^a	811.0000^c	294.0000	2.7500^c
SEM	0.0035	0.0149	0.0167	0.0024	17.4.0000	4.5000	0.1240
p Value
Diet	.3120	.2410	.1140	.1970	.4520	.1260	.3240
Challenge	.1870	.0110	.0040	.0240	<.0010	.1410	<.0010
Diet × challenge	.2240	.1780	.0840	.1060	.2260	.4580	.3740

VH: villous height; CD: crypt depth; VH/CD: villous height-to-crypt depth ratio.

AFB + OTA: 0.50 AFB mg/kg + 0.25 OTA mg/kg.

^a,b,cMeans in the same column without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 5. Effects of dietary chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.) extract (CFE), thyme-oil extract (TOE), aflatoxin B₁ (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) on blood parameters and humeral immune.

Main effects	Lipid blood parameters, mg/dL				Plasma immunoglobulin
	TG	Tch	LDL	HDL	IgA	IgG	IgM
Diet
Control (CON)	76.10	155.00^b	61.40	70.10^b	38.87	2.44^b	180.67^b
CON + 3 CFE, g/kg	78.60	170.00^a	64.20	83.60^a	42.20	3.37^a	187.30^a
CON + 3 TOE, g/kg	80.30	171.00^a	64.00	83.80^a	43.64	3.69^a	191.49^a
Challenge
No challenge	89.90^a	179.00^a	67.00	89.10^a	53.79^a	4.84^a	212.74^a
0.50 AFB, mg/kg	77.50^b	157.00^b	61.30	72.70^b	42.70^b	2.27^b	187.27^b
0.25 OTA, mg/kg	72.60^b	164.00^b	61.90	79.000^b	32.71^b	2.19^b	172.25^b
AFB + OTA	73.40^b	162.00^b	62.80	75.80^b	37.07^b	2.03^b	173.68^b
SEM	1.15	1.80	1.32	1.08	0.67	0.03	1.71
p Value
Diet	.437	.003	.211	.012	.379	<.001	<.001
Challenge	.014	.004	.195	.018	<.001	<.001	<.001
Diet × challenge	.119	.462	.104	.215	.415	.095	.101

TGs: triglycerides; Tch: total cholesterol; LDL: low density lipoprotein; HDL: high density lipoprotein.

AFB + OTA: 0.50 AFB mg/kg + 0.25 OTA mg/kg.

^a,bMeans in the same column without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

Table 6. Effects of dietary chamomile flower (Matricaria chamomilla L.) extract (CFE), thyme-oil extract (TOE), aflatoxin B₁ (AFB) and ochratoxin A (OTA) on antibody titres against Newcastle disease virus of broilers.

Main effects	Log2 titer^1
	17 d	28 d
Diet
Control (CON)	2.930	3.420^b
CON + 3 CFE, g/kg	2.910	3.640^a
CON + 3 TOE, g/kg	2.920	3.670^a
Challenge
No challenge	2.910	3.390^a
0.50 AFB, mg/kg	2.950	3.050^b
0.25 OTA, mg/kg	2.940	3.070^b
AFB + OTA	2.920	3.030^b
SEM	0.032	0.049
p Value
Diet	.341	<.001
Challenge	.175	<.001
Diet × challenge	.185	.095

AFB + OTA: 0.50 AFB mg/kg + 0.25 OTA mg/kg.

^a,bMeans in the same column without the same superscript differ significantly (p < .05).

¹Antibody titres were subjected to log₂ transformation.