Effect of various levels of Lavandula Officinalis essential oil on performance, blood metabolites and cecal microbiology of broilers fed diets based on wheat

This experiment was conducted to evaluate various levels of Lavandula Officinalis essential oil (L.O. E.O) on performance, microbiology and some blood parameters of broilers fed diets based on wheat. Completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 2×3 with four replicates was performed for 42 days. Treatments consisted of different levels of wheat (0 and 50 percent of diet) and different levels of L.O. E. O )0, 200 and 400 mg/ kg). The results of this experiment showed that addition of L.O. E.O on the wheat-based diet or corn- based diet caused significant increased in feed intake in starter period (P0.05). In wheat-based diet, feed conversion ratio decreased significantly. The LDL concentration decreased significantly by increasing levels of L.O. E.O in both diet (P0.05). According to the results, addition of L. O. E. O at level of 400 ppm could be decreased feed conversion ratio and blood LDL concentration and cecum microbial population improved numerically but it seems that more experiment is needed.