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Nigella sativa L. as an alternative antibiotic feed supplement and effect on growth performance in weanling pigs
Author(s) -
Petrujkić Branko T,
Beier Ross C,
He Haiqi,
Genovese Kenneth J,
Swaggerty Christina L,
Hume Michael E,
Crippen Tawni L,
Harvey Roger B,
Anderson Robin C,
Nisbet David J
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.8823
Subject(s) - nigella sativa , weanling , food science , dietary supplement , nutraceutical , microbiology and biotechnology , antibiotics , biology , chemistry , traditional medicine , biochemistry , medicine , endocrinology
BACKGROUND Nigella sativa L. ( NS ) is a plant containing bioactive constituents such as thymoquinone. Extracts of NS improve performance and reduce enteropathogen colonization in poultry and small ruminants, but studies with swine are lacking. In two different studies oral administration of NS extracts at doses equivalent to 0, 1.5 and 4.5 g kg −1 diet was assessed on piglet performance and intestinal carriage of wildtype Escherichia coli and Campylobacter , and Salmonella Typhimurium. RESULTS Wildtype E. coli populations in the jejunal and rectal content collected 9 days after treatment began were decreased ( P ≤ 0.05). Populations recovered from pigs treated with extract at 1.5 and 4.5 g kg −1 diet were 0.72–1.31 log 10 units lower than the controls (ranging from 6.05 to 6.61 log 10 CFU g −1 ). Wildtype Campylobacter and Salmonella Typhimurium were unaffected by NS treatment. Feed efficiency over the 9 days improved linearly ( P < 0.05) from 3.88 with 0 NS ‐treated pigs to 1.47 and 1.41 with pigs treated with NS at 1.5 and 4.5 g kg –1 diet, respectively, possibly due to high glutamine/glutamic acid content of the NS extract. CONCLUSION NS supplementation of weanling pigs improved feed efficiency and helped control intestinal E. coli during this vulnerable production phase. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry