Microencapsulated eucalyptol and eugenol as growth promoters in broilers.

Antibiotic growth promoter has been effectively used in poultry production for stimulating growth and preventing diseases. However, the use of antibiotics has been questioned due to the possible appearance of resistant bacteria. Special attention has been paid to the use of essential oils as natural alternatives for antibiotics. We investigated the use of different concentrations of microencapsulated eucalyptol and eugenol in broiler chickens diet as alternative growth promoters for avilamycin. One-day-old male broiler chickens were submitted to 7 different dietary treatments. The eugenol demonstrated strong antioxidant activity and both eugenol and eucalyptol showed antimicrobial activity. The broiler performance showed no significant difference to the group with administration of 10 mg/kg of avilamycin when eucalyptol (500 mg/kg) or eugenol (500 mg/kg) were used separately in diet. Our findings suggest that the microencapsulated phytotherapic agents are a potential alternative to the use of avilamycin as growth promoter in broilers during the broilers growing phase. DOI: 10.14685/rebrapa.v5i1.157