Benzoic acid combined with essential oils can be an alternative to the use of antibiotic growth promoters for piglets challenged with E. coli F4

• Autor(a) principal: Rodrigues, Leticia Mendonça
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Lima Neto, Túlio Otávio de Araújo, Garbossa, Cesar Augusto Pospissil, Martins, Claudia Cassimira da Silva, Garcez, Dino, Alves, Laya Kannan Silva, Abreu, Márvio Lobão Teixeira de, Ferreira, Rony Antonio, Cantarelli, Vinícius de Souza
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFLA
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.ufla.br/jspui/handle/1/46394
• topic: Microbiology; Organic acids; Pig nutrition; Stress physiology; Weaning; Microbiologia; Ácidos orgânicos; Suínos - Nutrição; Fisiologia do estresse; Desmame

Benzoic acid (BA) and essential oils (EOs) (thymol, 2-methoxyphenol, eugenol, piperine, and curcumin) are being studied to minimize the impairment of gastrointestinal functions in weanling piglets. This study evaluates the effects of combining BA and EO on the performance and intestinal health of piglets challenged with E. coli F4 (1 mL, 106 CFU/mL). In total, 270 weaned piglets were used in a randomized block design with six treatments: positive control, with 40 mg/kg colistin (PC); negative control, without the growth promoter (NC); negative control +5 g/kg benzoic acid (BA); negative control +2 g/kg combination of BA+EO (BA+EO2); negative control +3 g/kg combination of BA+EO (BA+EO3); negative control +4 g/kg combination of BA+EO (BA+EO4). BA+EO3 presented a greater average daily gain (ADG) (p = 0.0013) and better feed-to-gain ratio (p = 0.0138), compared to NC, from 21 to 35 days age. For the total period, BA, BA+EO3, and BA+EO4 were similar to PC and superior to NC for ADG (p = 0.0002) and final body weight (BW) (p = 0.0002). No difference (p > 0.05) was verified for diarrhea, microbial population, production of volatile fatty acids, pH, weight of organs, cellular proliferation, and cholecystokinin count. NC and BA+EO4 resulted in a higher villus height in the jejunum (p = 0.0120) compared to BA+EO3. The use of BA or the combination of BA and EO at 3 g/kg provides improved performance, aside from being an economically viable alternative to replace colistin.