Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on production performance, immunity and antioxidant capacity of meat rabbits

Figures & data

Table 1. Composition and nutrient levels of basal diets (air-dry basis).

Ingredients	Contents	Nutrition Level^b	contents
Sprayed corn bran(%)	14.60	DM(%)	88.20
Alfalfa meal(%)	4.40	DE (MJ/kg)	11.05
Alfalfa pellet(%)	10.00	CP (%)	15.64
Rice husk(%)	11.00	EE (%)	3.08
Corn(%)	17.00	NDF (%)	29.94
Wheat bran(%)	22.90	ADF (%)	19.05
Soybean meal(%)	14.00	Ash (%)	8.94
Soybean oil(%)	0.50	Ca (%)	1.10
Medicalstone(%)	0.80	TP (%)	0.60
Limestone(%)	2.00
Dicalcium phosphate(%)	0.40
NaCl(%)	0.40
Premix(%)^a	2.00
Total(%)	100

^aThe premix provided the following nutrients(for per kilogram of diets): VA 10000 IU, VD3 2000 IU, VE 10 IU, VK3 1.5 mg, VB1 0.6 mg, VB2 4.8 mg, VB6 1.8 mg, VB12 0.009 mg, nicotinic acid 10.5 mg, D-calcium pantothenate 7.5 mg, folic acid 0.15 mg, Fe (as ferric sulfate) 30 mg, Cu (as copper sulfate) 10 mg, Mn (as manganese sulfate) 35 mg, Zn (as zinc sulfate) 50 mg, I (as Potassium iodide) 0.3 mg, Se (as sodium sulfate) 0.30 mg, Co (as cobalt sulfate) 0.30 mg.

^bDigestible energy was a calculated value, while the others were measured values.

DM: dry materials; DE: digestible energy; MJ: mega joule; CP: crude protein; EE: ether extract; NDF: neutral detergent fiber; ADF: acid detergent fiber; Ca: calcium; TP: total phosphorus.

Table 2. Faecal scoring criteria.

Diarrhoea degree	Faecal appearance	Diarrhoea degree
Normal	Normal round	0
Mild diarrhoea	Soft, shaped	1
Medium diarrhoea	Sticky, shapeless, no faeces-water separation	2
Severe diarrhoea	Liquid, shapeless, faeces-water separation	3

Table 3. Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on growth performance of meat rabbits.

Items	Control group	Compound essential oil group	Oregano oil group	SEM	p-Value
Initial weight/g	772.43	772.43	766.63	9.81	0.909
End weight/g	1716.85	1858.46	1707.83	52.32	0.085
ADFI/g
0–14 d	45.77^b	51.79^a	49.56^ab	1.23	0.007
15–28 d	74.79^b	98.61^a	84.07^b	5.75	0.060
29–42 d	129.03^b	139.92^a	125.57^b	7.56	0.350
0–42 d	85.51^b	96.70^a	85.57^b	4.15	0.030
ADG/g
0–14 d	11.43	13.31	12.35	1.33	0.379
15–28 d	23.04	35.18	30.72	1.56	0.055
29–42 d	32.24	30.16	28.05	2.67	0.522
0–42 d	22.49	25.68	23.63	1.02	0.127
F/G
0-14 d	4.00	3.89	4.01	0.26	0.283
15-28 d	3.25	2.80	2.74	0.35	0.675
29-42 d	4.00	4.64	4.48	0.38	0.842
0-42 d	3.80	3.77	3.62	0.22	0.932

In the same row, values with no letter or the same letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p > 0.05), while with different small letter superscripts mean significant difference (p<0.05), and with different capital letter superscripts mean significant difference (p < 0.01). The same as below.

ADFI: average daily feed intake; ADG: average daily gain; F/G: feed to gain ratio.

Table 4. Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on health performance of meat rabbits.

Items	Control group	Compound essential oil group	Oregano oil group	p-Value
Initial umber(head)	48	48	48
Market number(head)	18	28	31
Diarrhoea index (points/head)	0.11^a	0.05^b	0.04^b	0.006
Diarrhoea frequency(%)	7.22^a	5.28^b	3.24^c	0.003
Mortality rate (%)	60.42^a	41.67^b	35.25^b	0.021

^a,b In the same row, values with no letter or the same letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p＞0.05), while with different small letter superscripts mean significant difference (p＜0.05).

Table 5. Effects of compound essential oils and oregano oil on serum immunity of meat rabbits.

Items	Control group	Compound essential oil group	Oregano oil group	SEM	p-Value
IgA (μg/mL)	20.25	23.38	21.53	1.49	0.349
IgG (mg/mL)	2.26^b	3.06^a	2.38^b	0.16	0.006
IgM (μg/mL)	59.75	66.12	65.17	3.05	0.319

^a,b In the same row, values with no letter or the same letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p＞0.05), while with different small letter superscripts mean significant difference (p＜0.05).

Table 6. Effects of compound essential oil and oregano oil on serum antioxidant indexes of meat rabbits.

Items	Control group	Compound essential oil group	Oregano oil group	SEM	p -Value
SOD (U/mL)	1239.01^b	1243.13^b	1416.91^a	42.08	0.009
GSH-PX (U/mL)	301.55	317.25	315.12	25.20	0.897
CAT (U/mL)	7.08	7.28	7.74	0.55	0.698
T-AOC (m/M)	0.23	0.27	0.24	0.02	0.530
MDA (nmol/mL)	1.98^a	1.37^b	1.65^ab	0.17	0.011

^a,b In the same row, values with no letter or the same letter superscripts mean no significant difference (p＞0.05), while with different small letter superscripts mean significant difference (p＜0.05).

Table 7. Economic benefit accounting.

Items	Control group	Compound essential oil group	Oregano oil group
Test number	48	48	48
Market number	18	28	31
Initial weight (g /head)	774	772	767
Market weight (g/head)	1717	1858	1708
Total market weight (kg)	30.79	51.62	52.35
Total consumption(kg)^a	119.03	162.44	167.9
Total cost of consumption (￥)^b	357.09	487.32	503.7
Total market income (￥)^c	585.00	980.8	994.7
Profit (total income-total cost, ￥)^d	227.92	493.46	490.95

^aThe total feed consumption is all the feed consumed by the group, including that consumed by rabbits which were later dead;

^bThe feed unit price is 3.00 yuan/kg;

^cThe sale price of meat rabbit is 19.00 yuan/kg;

^dThe profit is the total income from selling meat rabbits minus the total expenditure of feed, but other costs such as the cost of buying test rabbits are not taken into account.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.