Effects of Apiaceae fruits as feed ingredients in broilers

Phytogenic feed additives encounter an increasing interest in animal husbandery. They are regarded as practicable alternatives to the meanwhile banned antibiotic growth promotors and they meet the desire of the consumers relying on a natural animal keeping and feeding. Various more or less complex mixtures are used consisting of herbs, spices or essential oils that improve the taste of the feed but may also contribute to stabilise animal health. The effects of such additives vary greatly and depend upon housing and feeding conditions of the animals. The effects of many plant compounds, that displayed a biological activity in vitro, have not yet been adequately proved and documented in the living organism. The scientific evaluation of such feed additives is not yet satisfactory. This evaluation should go beyond the classical parameters as growth and feed efficiency and concern also the uptake, distribution, metabolism and excretion of important bioactive plant substances by laboratory animals. The effects on gut function, especially on intestinal microflora, are not yet sufficiently investigated. Because of the complex relationships that are expected, single plants or plant parts must be tested in a dose dependent experimental design. In the present project the fruits of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), caraway (Carum carvi), anise (Pimpinella anisum) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) are chosen as feed additives. These are fruits from plants of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family with essential oils as main active substances displaying antimicrobial activity and antioxidative potency. The planned investigations include a quatitative determination of selected active plant substances in the fruits used and the feeds containing them, feeding experiments to register zootechnical parameters, assays of the microbiology in the gut, physiological investigation of the resorption, distribution and excretion of selected active components of the essential oils as well as test of the oxidative stability of the animal products. The results provide an important contribution to the understanding of the effects of secondary plant products in the animal organism, they allow a better estimation of the biological effects and the metabolism, they extend the base for an evaluation of phytogenic feed additives in the view of efficacy, mechanistic explanation and product safety. By this way a major contribution will be given to the understanding of an important class of plant substances.

Phytogenic feed additives encounter an increasing interest in animal husbandery. They are regarded as practicable alternatives to the meanwhile banned antibiotic growth promotors and they meet the desire of the consumers relying on a natural animal keeping and feeding. Various more or less complex mixtures are used consisting of herbs, spices or essential oils that improve the taste of the feed but may also contribute to stabilise animal health. The effects of such additives vary greatly and depend upon housing and feeding conditions of the animals. The effects of many plant compounds, that displayed a biological activity in vitro, have not yet been adequately proved and documented in the living organism. The scientific evaluation of such feed additives is not yet satisfactory. This evaluation should go beyond the classical parameters as growth and feed efficiency and concern also the uptake, distribution, metabolism and excretion of important bioactive plant substances by laboratory animals. The effects on gut function, especially on intestinal microflora, are not yet sufficiently investigated. Because of the complex relationships that are expected, single plants or plant parts must be tested in a dose dependent experimental design. In the present project the fruits of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), caraway (Carum carvi), anise (Pimpinella anisum) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum) are chosen as feed additives. These are fruits from plants of the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family with essential oils as main active substances displaying antimicrobial activity and antioxidative potency. The planned investigations include a quatitative determination of selected active plant substances in the fruits used and the feeds containing them, feeding experiments to register zootechnical parameters, assays of the microbiology in the gut, physiological investigation of the resorption, distribution and excretion of selected active components of the essential oils as well as test of the oxidative stability of the animal products. The results provide an important contribution to the understanding of the effects of secondary plant products in the animal organism, they allow a better estimation of the biological effects and the metabolism, they extend the base for an evaluation of phytogenic feed additives in the view of efficacy, mechanistic explanation and product safety. By this way a major contribution will be given to the understanding of an important class of plant substances.