Microencapsulated basil oil (Ocimum basilicum Linn.) enhances growth performance, intestinal morphology, and antioxidant capacity of broiler chickens in the tropics

OBJECTIVE: Microencapsulation is a technique to improve stability, bioavailability, and controlled release of active ingredients at a target site. This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of microencapsulated basil oil (MBO) on growth performance, apparent ileal digestibility (AID), jejunal histomorphology, bacterial population as well as antioxidant capacity of broiler chickens in a tropical climate. METHODS: A total of 288 one-day-old female broilers (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into 4 groups (6 replicates of 12 birds), based on a completely randomized design. Dietary treatments were as follows: i) basal diet (NC), ii) basal diet with avilamycin at 10 ppm (PC), iii) basal diet with free basil oil (FBO) at 500 ppm, and iv) basal diet with MBO at 500 ppm, respectively. RESULTS: Dietary supplementation of MBO improved average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio of broilers throughout the 42-d trial period (p<0.05), whereas MBO did not affect average daily feed intake compared with NC group. The broilers fed MBO diet exhibited a greater AID of crude protein and gross energy compared with those in other groups (p<0.05). Lactobacillus spp. and Escherichia coli populations were not affected by feeding dietary treatments. Both FBO and MBO had positive effects on jejunal villus height (VH), villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH:CD) and villus surface area of broilers compared to NC and PC groups (p<0.05). Superoxide dismutase level in the duodenal mucosa of MBO group was significantly increased (p<0.01), whereas malondialdehyde level was significantly decreased (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Microencapsulation could be considered as a promising driver of the basil oil efficiency, consequently MBO at 500 ppm could be potentially used as a feed additive for improvement of intestinal integrity and nutrient utilization, leading to better performance of broiler chickens.