The influence of plant essential oil/palygorskite composite on growth performance, blood parameters and intestinal morphology of broiler chickens

Figures & data

Table 1. Composition and nutrient levels of the experimental diets (dry matter basis).

Item	Content
Ingredient (%, unless otherwise indicated)
Corn	56.50
Soybean meal	36.08
Soybean oil	3.20
Limestone	1.00
CaHPO4	1.90
Met	0.19
Lys	0.05
NaCl	0.37
Premix^1	0.71
Total	100.00
Calculated Nutrient composition
Metabolizable energy (Kcal/kg)	2977.94
Crude protein	20.37
Met	0.56
Lys	1.40
Ca	1.00
Available P	0.48

¹ Premix provided per kilogram of diet: vitamin A 6141.5 IU, vitamin D₃ 1789.2 IU, vitamin E 15.6 IU, vitamin B₁ 0.65 mg, vitamin B₂ 3.93 mg, vitamin B₃ 18.06 mg, vitamin B₅ 6.65 g, vitamin B₆ 2.08 mg, vitamin B₉ 0.59 mg, vitamin B₁₂ 0.01 mg, vitamin H 0.07 mg, vitamin K 1.82 mg, Cu 6.01 mg, Fe (as ferrous sulfate) 60.91 mg, Zn (as zinc sulfate) 65.75 mg, Mn (as manganese sulfate) 62.3 mg, Se (as sodium selenite) 0.21 mg, I (as potassium iodide) 0.9 mg, choline chloride 332.28 mg.

Table 2. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on growth performance of broiler chicken¹.

Items^2	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
1-14 d
ADFI (g/chick)	9.02 ± 0.43	9.15 ± 0.23	9.04 ± 0.12	9.28 ± 0.30	0.42
ADG (g/chick)	4.62 ± 0.15	4.89 ± 0.19	4.52 ± 0.34	4.65 ± 0.18	0.06
F/G ratio (g/g)	1.95 ± 0.04	1.87 ± 0.09	2.00 ± 0.13	2.00 ± 0.14	0.13
BW (g)	98.48 ± 4.21	102.26 ± 3.70	97.08 ± 3.24	98.9 ± 4.22	0.14
15-28 d
ADFI (g/chick)	18.34 ± 0.42^b	18.93 ± 0.43^a	18.39 ± 0.49^a	18.87 ± 0.49^a	<0.01
ADG (g/chick)	8.35 ± 0.35^ab	8.65 ± 0.40^a	8.36 ± 0.43^ab	7.92 ± 0.36^b	0.03
F/G ratio (g/g)	2.20 ± 0.08	2.19 ± 0.12	2.27 ± 0.16	2.38 ± 0.14	0.07
BW (g)	215.38 ± 8.15^b	223.36 ± 8.21^a	214.12 ± 7.62^b	209.78 ± 9.14^b	0.03
29-42 d
ADFI (g/chick)	33.68 ± 1.11^b	34.63 ± 1.27^ab	36.02 ± 1.35^a	34.80 ± 1.46^ab	0.05
ADG (g/chick)	13.22 ± 1.01^c	13.89 ± 0.84^ab	14.83 ± 0.81^a	13.26 ± 1.25^c	0.04
F/G ratio (g/g)	2.54 ± 0.18	2.59 ± 0.34	2.43 ± 0.16	2.67 ± 0.31	0.47
BW (g)	400.46 ± 15.24^b	417.16 ± 18.96^ab	421.74 ± 14.62^a	395.42 ± 16.52^b	0.03
1-42 d
ADFI (g/chick)	20.35 ± 0.39^b	20.90 ± 0.40^a	21.15 ± 0.39^a	20.98 ± 0.36^a	0.04
ADG (g/chick)	8.73 ± 0.32^b	9.14 ± 0.42^a	9.24 ± 0.29^a	8.61 ± 0.38^b	0.04
F/G ratio (g/g)	2.32 ± 0.10	2.31 ± 0.17	2.31 ± 0.09	2.43 ± 0.15	0.30

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 40 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

² Body weight (BW); Average daily feed intake (ADFI); Average daily gain (ADG); Feed/Gain ratio (F/G ratio).

Table 3. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on immune organ index of broiler chicken¹.

Items	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
21 d
Spleen index (g/g)	0.13 ± 0.37	0.13 ± 0.30	0.13 ± 0.37	0.13 ± 0.38	0.87
Bursa of fabricius index (g/g)	0.37 ± 0.96	0.37 ± 0.11	0.38 ± 0.97	0.38 ± 0.93	0.99
42 d
Spleen index (g/g)	0.13 ± 0.02	0.14 ± 0.03	0.13 ± 0.03	0.12 ± 0.04	0.80
Bursa of fabricius index (g/g)	0.38 ± 0.11	0.36 ± 0.10	0.39 ± 0.08	0.38 ± 0.07	0.82

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 2 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

Table 4. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on plasma immune indexes of broiler chicken¹.

Items^2	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
21 d
IgA (ug/mL)	142.32 ± 16.25^b	145.53 ± 20.25^b	146.08 ± 7.86^b	185.65 ± 26.71^a	<0.01
IgG (ug/mL)	1365.08 ± 227.4	1368.28 ± 124.33	1248.05 ± 124.33	1558.03 ± 111.26	0.10
IgM (ug/mL)	495.50 ± 62.23^b	491.30 ± 59.35^b	492.84 ± 31.75^b	579.01 ± 54.46^a	0.03
TNF-α (pg/mL)	44.20 ± 9.15^a	39.92 ± 3.33^a	42.25 ± 4.25^a	32.16 ± 6.14^b	0.04
IL-2 (pg/mL)	240.80 ± 22.73	249.91 ± 23.92	232.87 ± 27.49	213.87 ± 22.71	0.09
42 d
IgA (ug/mL)	164.94 ± 20.14^b	163.46 ± 22.52^b	160.26 ± 16.13^b	208.01 ± 20.14^a	<0.01
IgG (ug/mL)	1472.05 ± 211.39^b	1451.32 ± 204.44^b	1155.11 ± 271.15^c	1843.11 ± 234.99^a	<0.01
IgM (ug/mL)	551.53 ± 54.58^ab	557.24 ± 28.80^ab	521.50 ± 56.70^b	604.45 ± 27.09^a	0.03
TNF-α (pg/mL)	51.19 ± 3.03^a	51.13 ± 1.31^a	51.63 ± 3.30^a	43.74 ± 4.63^b	<0.01
IL-2 (pg/mL)	241.11 ± 19.73^b	251.82 ± 29.27^ab	279.61 ± 29.18^a	221.63 ± 26.09^b	0.01

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 2 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

² IgA: immunoglobulins A; IgG: immunoglobulins G; IgM: immunoglobulins M; TNF-α: tumour necrosis factor-α; IL-1β: Interleukin-1β; IL-2: Interleukin-2; IL-6: Interleukin-6.

Table 5. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on plasma antioxidant capacity of broiler chicken¹.

Items^2	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
21 d
T-AOC (U/mL)	0.59 ± 0.07	0.74 ± 0.13	0.71 ± 0.15	0.63 ± 0.14	0.09
SOD (ng/mL)	25.40 ± 1.49	26.2 ± 2.80	27.2 ± 1.63	26.2 ± 1.91	0.59
GSH-Px (ng/mL)	361.56 ± 25.72	385.71 ± 21.91	388.57 ± 43.10	381.19 ± 36.46	0.54
42 d
T-AOC (U/mL)	9.12 ± 1.5^b	11.18 ± 1.15^a	10.60 ± 1.48^ab	9.33 ± 0.96^b	0.03
SOD (ng/mL)	20.20 ± 1.79^b	23.54 ± 2.06^a	19.53 ± 1.79^b	21.54 ± 2.36^ab	0.02
GSH-Px (ng/mL)	261.51 ± 8.94	278.14 ± 8.20	269.86 ± 14.31	268.62 ± 9.18	0.97

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 2 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

² T-AOC: total antioxidant capacity; SOD: superoxide dismutase; GSH-Px: glutathione peroxidase.

Table 6. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on plasma biochemical indexes of broiler chicken at 42 day¹.

Items^2	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
GLU (mmol/L)	12.02 ± 1.59	12.58 ± 2.42	11.53 ± 0.77	12.46 ± 2.07	0.85
TP (g/L)	30.34 ± 5.35	32.19 ± 5.98	38.37 ± 8.92	39.58 ± 8.32	0.11
ALB (g/L)	14.62 ± 1.97	18.26 ± 7.39	21.38 ± 4.58	18.04 ± 3.46	0.13
GLB (g/L)	15.64 ± 5.37	20.98 ± 7.64	23.58 ± 10.24	21.53 ± 6.88	0.37
TG (mmol/L)	0.45 ± 0.22	0.24 ± 0.05	0.30 ± 0.16	0.29 ± 0.15	0.29
TC (mmol/L)	3.13 ± 0.65	2.84 ± 0.60	3.27 ± 0.61	3.28 ± 0.66	0.67
HDL-C (mmol/L)	1.67 ± 0.31^b	2.46 ± 0.35^ab	2.13 ± 0.40^ab	2.80 ± 0.16^a	<0.01
LDL-C (mmol/L)	0.65 ± 0.08^ab	0.42 ± 0.08^b	0.82 ± 0.09^a	0.65 ± 0.17^ab	<0.01
AST (u/L)	137.72 ± 8.16	142.08 ± 10.46	143.02 ± 14.10	142.16 ± 13.65	0.80

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 2 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

² GLU: glucose; TP: total protein; ALB: albumin; GLB: globulin; TG: triglyceride; TC: total cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; AST: glutamic oxalacetic transaminase.

Table 7. Effects of Plant Essential oil/palygorskite composite (PEO-Pal) on intestinal morphology of broiler chicken at 42 day¹.

Items	PEO-Pal supplement level/(mg/kg)				p-Value
	0	500	750	1000
Duodenum
VH/μm	1310.92 ± 133.15	1316.01 ± 165.17	1384.56 ± 60.33	1405.68 ± 80.62	0.63
CD/μm	252.33 ± 18.98	277.47 ± 42.24	238.00 ± 28.12	172.85 ± 62.83	0.34
VH/CD	5.27 ± 0.53	4.81 ± 0.82	5.89 ± 0.80	5.32 ± 0.95	0.07
Jejunum
VH/μm	972.55 ± 209.08	1010.23 ± 73.62	1127.33 ± 145.54	1079.47 ± 9.04	0.29
CD/μm	225.65 ± 36.80	257.64 ± 29.17	214.64 ± 29.33	235.66 ± 31.96	0.21
VH/CD	4.52 ± 0.80^b	3.97 ± 0.60^b	6.14 ± 0.96^a	4.86 ± 0.64^b	<0.01
Ileum
VH/μm	789.96 ± 114.05	862.82 ± 189.23	852.56 ± 44.89	828.78 ± 114.73	0.42
CD/μm	164.06 ± 34.81	242.08 ± 73.89	207.35 ± 41.27	170.05 ± 24.54	0.05
VH/CD	4.89 ± 0.77	3.86 ± 0.57	4.54 ± 0.82	4.79 ± 0.59	0.12

¹ Data represent the means of 6 replicates per group with 2 chick per replicate. Values are expressed as means ± SD. Means in the same row assigned different lowercase letters are significantly different (p < 0.05).

² VH: Villus height; CD: Crypt depth.

Data availability statement

Raw data were generated at the Hunan Agricultural University. Data availability statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.