Uso do óleo essencial de marmeleiro na ração de frangos de corte

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of quince essential oil (QEO) as a substitute for growth and anticoccidial promoter on the performance of broilers of the Cobb 500 strain from 1 to 42 days of age. The essential oil extraction was carried out in the Biological Control Laboratory of the Federal University of Paraíba (municipality of Bananeiras, Brazil), using the hydrodistillation technique in a Clevenger apparatus. A total of 1,260 chicks were distributed in a completely randomized design with six treatments and six replications (per treatment) of thirty-five chicks. The treatments consisted of the following diets: T1 = positive control (PC) + antimicrobial, T2 = negative control (NC) - antimicrobial, and T3, T4, T5 and T6 resulted from the combination of the NC diet with QEO levels of 0.007; 0.014; 0.028 and 0.056%, respectively. EMA analysis showed there was an increasing linear effect (P<0.05) of the oil levels from 1 to 7, and 22 to 35 days of age. There was no effect from 36 to 42 days. Therefore, it is concluded that the essential oils can be used as antimicrobial agents in diets for broilers, improving their performance. At all stages (1 – 7, 1 – 21, 1 – 42 days of age), birds fed with quince essential oil had a reduction in feed intake and weight gain, from 1 to 7 and 1 to 21 days. From 1 to 42 days of age, the positive control diet had a higher weight gain mean. With regards to the feed conversion analysis, broilers fed with QEO had an improvement in comparison to the treatments tested in all stages. The optimum QEO inclusion level in diets for broilers was 0.030%. Concerning the negative control, there was an improvement in weight yield and percentage of thigh, upper thigh and wing. There was a higher yield in weight, percentage of Pectoralis major, and percentage of the breast with skin and without skin in broilers fed with QEO.