COMUNIDADE BACTERIANA DE CODORNAS DE POSTURA ALIMENTADAS COM RAÇÕES CONTENDO ÓLEO ESSENCIAL DE CANELA (CINNAMOMUM VERUM) E ORÉGANO (ORIGANUM VULGARE)

Abstract

The use of plants with medicinal properties in the production of quails arises from the need for alternative additives to antibiotics that improve the performance of poultry production process. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the use of oregano and cinnamon essential oil (OEOC) supplementation on the characterization of the intestinal microbiota of laying quails. One hundred and eighty Japanese quails of the Coturnix coturnix japonica lineage were randomly housed in cages in five treatments, with six replicates of six birds each. The tested groups were: negative control feed (without additive), feed with the addition of 0.025g/kg of zinc bacitracin (positive control), and dietary supplementation with 0.05kg of OEOC /t of feed, 0.10kg/t and 0.15kg/t of OEOC. To estimate the similarity of the microbial community structure between treatments, principal component analyzes were performed based on the profile of operational taxonomic units in the R program (https://www.r-project.org). The essential oils of cinnamon (Cinnamomun verum) and oregano (Origanum vulgare) used in Japanese quail feed at a concentration of 0.05kg/t can be used as an alternative to the supply of antibiotics because it benefits the increase in Lactobacillus and reduce pathogens.