China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (2): 668-677.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2025.02.017

• Nutrition and Feed • Previous Articles    

Research Progress on the Application of Plant Essential Oil in Chicken Production

SHAN Jing1, DU Hanxiang1, QU Xiangyong1, GUO Songchang1, LI Meichun2, HE Changqing1   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410125, China;
    2. Hunan Yunfeifeng Agricultural Co., Ltd., Huaihua 418200, China
  • Received:2024-06-03 Published:2025-01-24

Abstract: Plant essential oil (PEO) is one of the main types of natural plant extracts,which has good antibacterial,antioxidant,anti-inflammatory,immune-enhancing and other functions.PEO is recognized as a non-toxic,pure natural green new plant additive because of its fast degradation,short half-life and no accumulation in the body.PEO plays an antibacterial role by hyperpolarizing the cell membrane and destroying the cell homeostasis.It can improve the body’s antioxidant capacity by scavenging free radicals,inhibiting cell membrane lipid peroxidation,and enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity.It can also reduce the risk of inflammation and alleviates inflammation by inhibiting the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines,reducing the content of NO,prostaglandin E2 and reactive oxygen species synthesis.In terms of chicken production performance,PEO can increase feed intake,body weight gain,feed utilization rate,and reduce feed to gain ratio.In terms of egg quality,PEO can increase the thickness and strength of egg shell,egg weight and egg mass,egg yolk color score and Haugh unit.In terms of chicken quality,PEO can significantly reduce the content of saturated fatty acid in serum and thigh,significantly increase the content of polyunsaturated fatty acid in serum and thigh,and significantly reduce the drip loss of chicken.In terms of intestinal flora and intestinal morphology of chickens,PEO can significantly increase the number of probiotics in the intestinal tract of chickens,significantly reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria,and significantly increase the villus height,crypt depth and villus/crypt ratio of duodenum,ileum and cecum of chickens.In terms of chicken serum biochemical and immune performance,PEO can improve the body’s metabolic level,increase the body’s cellular immune response and humoral immune response.In this paper,the biological function and mechanism of PEO were firstly reviewed,then the application and mechanism of PEO in chicken production were expounded,in order to provide more theoretical reference for the practical application of PEO in chicken production.

Key words: plant essential oil; biological activity; chickens; antioxidant; immune

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