Appraisal of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) extract on production performance, internal organs, and gut microflora of japanese quail

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of Echinacea purpurea (EP) extract at 5 levels (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 or 2 mL L-1 of drinking water) on performance, internal organs and gut microflora of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica). The results showed that EP extract decreased feed in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Seifi, Saeed, Khoshbakht, Rahem, Hajati, Hosna, Gilani, Ali
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM)
Repositorio:Acta Scientiarum. Animal Sciences (Online)
Idioma:inglés
portugués
OAI Identifier:oai:periodicos.uem.br/ojs:article/37230
Acceso en línea:https://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciAnimSci/article/view/37230
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Echinacea purpurea
japanese quail
performance
gut microflora.
Descripción
Sumario:An experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of Echinacea purpurea (EP) extract at 5 levels (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1 or 2 mL L-1 of drinking water) on performance, internal organs and gut microflora of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix Japonica). The results showed that EP extract decreased feed intake and body weight gain of quails. The feed conversion ratio of quails fed with EP extract at the level of 0.5 ml L-1 drinking water was significantly decreased compared to the control group. Adding EP extract at the levels of 0.25, 0.5 or 1 mL L-1 drinking water decreased carcass yield of the birds (p < 0.05). The relative weight of internal organs of the birds fed different levels of EP extract was not significantly different. Birds consumed EP extract at the levels of 1 or 2 mL L-1 drinking water had lower ileal aerobic bacteria population compared to the control group; however, the ileal Coliform population increased by EP extract supplementation (p < 0.05). Results of the present study indicated that using EP extract at the level of 0.5 mL L-1 drinking water could improve feed conversion ratio of quails; however, it decreased the carcass yield of the birds.