chicory extract

In order to stimulate growth, eliminate nutrient deficiencies, strengthen immune responses and prevent diseases, several additives are being added into the poultry feeds (Rakhshan et al. 1389). Initially, the first materials that were considered as food additives were antibiotics and anti-bacterial agents (Hedayati et al. 2015). Since 2006, the EU and later US have prohibited the use of all antibiotics as a growth promoter in livestock industry (Hashemi et al., 2009). Addition of medicinal herbs is aimed for replacing with the chemical compounds available in poultry diets. The minimum benefit of medicinal plants compared to chemical drugs is that if they do not role a positive effect, they have much-more limited side effects. Chicory plant (Cichorium intybus L.) and the English name Succory is a plant of the Asteraceae family, which are available in different parts of Iran. In order to evaluate the effects of Chicory root extract with growth promoter antibiotic, an experiment was conducted on blood biochemical parameters, immune titers and Cecum bacterial population.
Material and 192 Ross 308 mixed sex day-old chicks were used in a completely randomized design manner for 42 days, which were distributed after initial weighing. Experimental design of current trial was consisted of 4 treatments, 4 replicates and 12 chicks per each replicate. Treatments were 1) control, 2) Flavomycin antibiotic growth promoter (0.045%), 3 and 4) Chicory root extract in 0.5 and 0.1%, respectively. Extract of chicory root was prepared by the maceration method at Malayer University central laboratory. At first, the required amount of dried chicory root was prepared and the woods and groves were removed and then thoroughly grinded with a miller. The required amount of powder was then weighed and injected into the Laboratory Becher. For every 100 grams of powder, 700 ml of 96% ethanol and 300 ml of distilled water were added to Bechers and thoroughly blended for 2 minutes, then an aluminum foil was applied on it and 48 hours later using Whattman filter paper (W-42, UK) was flattened. Then, the ethanol was isolated and the pure extract was obtained and kept until it was used in the refrigerator. In order to study the performance, body weight gain, feed consumption and feed conversion ratio were measured and recorded on a weekly basis. Also, at the end of trial, from each experimental unit, two birds were selected and 3 ml of blood samples were collected for assessing immunity and biochemical parameters of blood serum. Biochemical parameters including triglyceride, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL), were checked and sent to a biochemical laboratory using a centrifuge at 3000 rpm, for 10 minutes, the serum was isolated from the specimen and measured using an auto-analyzer (Technicon RA-1000, USA). Collected data were analyzed and statistical analysis was performed in a completely randomized design with SAS version 9.1 and GLM procedure. Mean comparison was performed using Duncan's multiple range test at the probability level of P It is found that the maximum body weight and minimum FCR was significantly (P It can be concluded that Chicory root extract at 0.1% dosage when compared with growth promoter antibiotic fed group could improve the blood biochemical parameters and reduce the bacterial population of feces.

The innovation of antibiotic growth promoters in poultry production has brought fundamental economic advantage. However, their long-time utilization leads to enhance manifestation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It becomes more and more difficult to deal with bacteria mediated infections. Therefore, alternatives to traditional antibiotic growth promoters, which can promote livestock performance without generating drug-resistance, are urgently needed. Medicinal herbs have potential to act as antibiotic growth promoters to alternatives due to their beneficial effects of antimicrobial actions. Recently, many materials have been innovated as a superseded to antibiotics such as probiotics, prebiotics and medicinal plants. Probiotics increase production performance by reducing the nutrients available for noxious bacteria and also reduce the production of toxic bacterial metabolites. Chicory plant due to its special characteristics and ingredients is used as an herbal medicine. All parts of this plant especially roots have medicinally important compounds. There are not many reports regarding to use chicory extract in broiler chickens. Therefore, this experiment was conducted in order to evaluate effect of different levels of chicory plant extract on performance, blood parameters, intestinal microflora and immune response of broiler chickens.
Material and In order to evaluate chicory extract and probiotics on performance, carcass characteristics and blood parameters, a completely randomized design with five treatments and three replicates was carried out with 180 Ross 308 male chickens in 42 days. The treatments included: 1- control diet; 2- control diet Virjiniomaysin antibiotic (150 mg/kg diet); 3- control diet 爘鲢 extract (3ml/L); 4- control diet ᦩ斊髨 probiotics (300 mg/kg diet) and 5- diet containing chicory extract and probiotics (3ml/L and 300 mg/kg diet). For preparing dietary treatments, a basal diet was formulated to meet or exceed the nutrient recommendations for broiler chickens according to NRC requirements. Feed and water provides as ad libitum for birds throughout the experiment. Body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were determined during the experiment. Birds were reared on litter floor pen and a continuous lighting program with 23 h light and 1 h darkness was used. At the end of experiment, after 8 h of fasting, two chickens from each replicate were selected for performance, carcass characteristics, blood parameters and intestinal microflora assay. Blood samples were collected from the brachial vein and plasma by centrifugation of the noncoagulated blood at 3000 × g for 10 min. The plasma samples were kept in the deep freezer until analysis for determining blood parameters. In order to assay immunity response at 28 and 35 days age, 0.1 ml sheep red blood cell was injected to two birds of each replicates and after seven days from injection 2 ml blood samples were taken form brachial vein.
Treatments did not have any significant effect on feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (P>0.05). Carcass, breast, thigh, liver and bursa fabricius percentages, were not affected by treatments (P>0.05). The results showed a significant decrease in the abdominal fat of treatment 5 fed with chicory extract and probiotics. Chicory extract may provide direct functional support to digestive reactions in the body. First of all, chicory root increases the flow of bile, which supports digestion, because extra bile helps break down fats, therefore supplementation chicory extract to diet could lead to decreasing abdominal fat. Analysis of variance of data did not reveal any significant effect on blood glucose, triglycerides and VLDL concentrations. The lowest concentration of cholesterol and highest concentration of HDL were obtained in group 5 and control group. Whereas the decrease in blood HDL and cholesterol level might be due to the properties of chicory leaf extract to stimulate lactic acid producing bacteria secreting the hydrolase that in turn converts bile salts into de-conjugated bile acids and ultimately resulted in the reduced serum cholesterol level. Experimental treatments did not affect antibody titer (IgG¡ IgM), although IgG titers tend to reduce. Prebiotics act as an alternative treatment to antibiotics and chemicals, and play the role of alarm molecules to activate the immune system. Probiotic bacteria include the adherence capability, antagonism against pathogens and production of extracellular enzymes.
The results of this experiment suggested that adding combination of chicory extract and probiotics into broiler diets can reduced abdominal fat percentage and enhance immunity response.
Material and In order to evaluate of chicory extract and probiotic on performance, caracass characteristics and blood parameters a completely randomized design with five treatments and three replicates was carried out with 180 Ross 308 male chickens in grower periods. The treatments included 1: control diet; 2: control diet Virjiniomaysin antibiotic (150 mg/kg diet); 3: control diet 爘鲢 extract (3ml/L); 4: control diet ᦩ斊髨 probiotic (30O mg/kg diet) and 5: diet containing chicory extract and probiotic. For preparing dietary treatments, a basal diet was formulated to meet or exceed the nutrient recommendations for broiler chickens according to NRC requirements. Feed and water provides as ad libitum for birds throughout the experiment. Body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio were determined during the experiment. Birds were reared on litter floor pen and a continuous lighting program with 23 h light and 1 h darkness was used. At the end of experiment, after 8 h of fasting, two male chickens from each replicate were selected for performance, Caracas characteristics, blood parameters and intestinal microflora assay. Blood samples were collected from the brachial vein and Serum was obtained by centrifugation of the coagulated blood at 3000 × g for 10 min. The sera samples kept in the deep freezer until analysis for determining blood parameters. In order to assay immunity response at 28 and 35 of age, 0.1 ml sheep red blood cell was injected to two birds of each replicates and after seven days from injection 2 ml blood samples were taken form brachial vein.
Effect of treatment didn’t significant effect on feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion (P>0.05). Carcass, breast, thigh, liver and bursa fabricius percentages, were not affected by treatments (P>0.05).The results showed a significant decrease in the abdominal fat in birds of treatment group 5 that inclusion with chicory extract and probiotic. Chicory may provide direct functional support to the digestive reactions in the body. First of all, chicory root increases the flow of bile, which supports digestion. Because extra bile helps break down fats, therefore supplementation chicory extract to diet could lead to decreasing abdominal fat. Analysis of variance of data did not reveal any significant effect on blood glucose, triglycerides LDL and VLDL concentrations but HDL and cholesterol concentrations did affect with inclusion of treatments. Whereas the decrease in blood HDL and cholesterol level might be due to the properties of chicory leaf extract to stimulate lactic acid producing bacteria secreting the hydrolase that in turn converts bile salts into de-conjugated bile acids and ultimately resulted in the reduced serum cholesterol level. Immune response for SRBC were markedly enhanced by chicory extract plus probiotic treatment (group 5) as compared to other group. Prebiotics act as an alternative treatment to antibiotics and chemicals, and play the role of alarm molecules to activate the immune system. Probiotic bacteria include the adherence capability, antagonism against pathogens and production of extracellular enzymes
In conclusion, the results of this experiment suggested that adding combination of chicory extract and probiotics combined in broiler diets can reduced abdominal fat and enhance immunity response.

The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effects of Ultimate acid (UA) and chicory extract (CE) on performance, immune system and lymphoid organs (thymus, spleen and bursa of fabricius) of broiler chickens. Three hundred thirty one-day old broiler chicks (Ross 308, male and female) were allocated to the experimental units based on a completely randomized design using a factorial arrangement of 2×3 with two levels of chicory extract (CE, 0 and 2 ml/1 liter of water) and three levels of Ultimate acid (UA, 0, 0.5 and 1 ml/1 liter of water). Each treatment replicated 5 times with 11 chicks each. Antibody titer against NDV was determined by HI assay. On day 42 from each replication 2 chickens slaughtered and lymphoid organs separated and weighted. In spite of non-significant effect of UA supplementation on feed conversion ratio (FCR), its effect on both daily feed intake (DFI) and daily weight gain (DWG) (P

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of chicory extract in the diet of broiler chicks in a completely randomized design with 5 dietary treatments, 4 replicates of 20 broiler chicks (1 d old) in each. Treatments consisted of a corn diet - soy as a basal diet (control) and basal diet containing three levels of 150, 250 and 350 mg ethyl acetate extract of chicory per kg and probiotic the recommended amount per kilogram of feed. Chicory was extracted using four different solvents (chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and water) and the most effective extracts in vitro antibacterial properties were determined by disk diffusion method and by measuring the diameter of inhibition zone. The most antibacterial effect against E.coli was observed to the ethyl acetate extract. Effects of ethyl acetate extract were investigated on nutrient digestibility and microbial population of the gastrointestinal tractof broilers under heat stress. To determine the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and crude fat feed sampling and ileum with chromium oxide marker was used. The results showed that the use of the chicks chicory extract reduced the number of E. coli bacteria and increase the number of lactobacilli in the digestive tract. Digestible of protein and fat under the influence of chicory extract showed a significant increase. In the digestibility of dry matter in different treatments were not affected by treatments (P

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an organic acid (Ultimate acid, UA) and chicory extract (CE) on performances, carcass characteristics and immune system of broiler chickens.Three hundred thirty oneday old broiler chicks (Ross 308, male and female) were allocated to the experimental units based on a completely randomized design using a factorial arrangement of 2 × 3 with two levels of CE (0 and 2 ml/Lit. of dinking water) and three levels of UA (0, 0.25 and 0.5 ml/Lit. of drinking water). Each treatment replicated 5 times with 11 chicks per replicate. Feed intake, daily body weight and feed conversion ratio were determined during the entire (0-42 d) experimental period. At the end of experiment (day 42), two chicks close to average body weight of each replicate were selected and slaughtered for carcass quality triats. Administration of UA alone significantly (P<0.05) reduced both feed intake and body weight gain compared to the control group but did not show any adverse effect on feed conversion ratio. Adding CE to drinking water increased gain in body weight and improved the relative weights of carcass and parts yield of the chicks compared to the control group (P<0.05). Main effects for CE and UA, and their interactions showed positive effect on immune reponse of broiler chicks measured by antibody titres against SRBC using agglutination test. In conclusion, the evidence of this study suggests the addition of chicory extract in the drinking water of broiler chicks as a growth promoter.

The effects of different levels of alcoholic chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) extract were investigated on performance، cellular and humoral immunity in 200 one-day chicks (Ross 308) in a completely randomized design with 5 treat ments and 4 replicates and 10 chicks per replicate. The treatment groups received 0 (control)، 0. 5، 1، 1. 5 and 2 ml/Lit of alcoholic chicory extract، (provided from Chicory roots)، in drinking water respectively، during days 3 to 42. Daily feed intake، daily body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were measured. The birds were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) on days 8 and 22 of age and serum antibody levels produced in response to SRBC were measured on days 21، 28، 35 and 42. Skin response to phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P) injected intradermally on day 16 were measured 24 h after injection. The results indicated that consumption of 2 ml Chicory extract increased feed intake and daily weight gain (P<0. 05). Doses of 0. 5، 1 and 1. 5 ml Chicory extract increased the breast weight and 0. 5 ml increased thymus weight percentage (P<0. 05). Adding 2 ml chicory extract increased total Anti-SRBC، IgG and IgM titer in the experimental groups compared to control group (P<0. 05). Consumption of 0. 5 and 2 ml Chicory extract increased cellular immunity on PHA-P injection (P<0. 05). It is concluded that use of 2 ml chicory extract in drinking water increases performance، cellular and humoral immunity in broilers.