What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore how microencapsulated essential oils affect growth, meat quality, antioxidant status, and immune responses in broilers.

May 19, 2026Open Access

The Compound of Microencapsulated Essential Oils Improves Productive Parameters, Antioxidant Status, Meat Quality, and Both Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses in Broilers

Key Points

The aim is to explore how microencapsulated essential oils affect growth, meat quality, antioxidant status, and immune responses in broilers.
640 mixed-sex Ross 308 broiler chickens were equally divided into 4 treatment groups for 42 days.
Each group received a basal diet with different levels of microencapsulated essential oils (0, 300, 600, 900 mg/kg).
Various parameters including body weight gain, feed conversion, and antioxidant enzyme activities were measured.
CMEOs-900 treatment significantly increased total body weight gain (P = 0.001) and reduced feed conversion ratio (P = 0.001; P = 0.04).
Enhanced antioxidant capacity and enzyme activities were observed, with P-values < 0.05.
Broilers on CMEOs-900 showed improved immune responses, with significant increases in antibody titers and lower heterophil counts (P < 0.05).

Abstract

This experiment investigated the effect of the compound of microencapsulated essential oils ( CMEOs ) on productive parameters, antioxidant status, meat quality, and humoral and cellular immune responses in broilers. In a completely randomized design, a total of 640 (mixed-sex) one-day-old Ross 308 broiler chickens were divided into 4 treatments with 10 replicates (16 chicks/replicate) for 42 days. Treatments were basal diet supplemented with CMEOs at levels of 0 (control), 300 (CMEOs-300), 600 (CMEOs-600), and 900 (CMEOs-900) mg/kg of diet. The CMEOs contain equal weight ratios of eucalyptus, oregano, rosemary, and thyme essential oils ( EOs ). The results showed that, compared to the control and other groups, the CMEOs-900 treatment increased (ANOVA and linear, P = 0.001) total body weight gain and decreased (ANOVA, P = 0.001; linear, P = 0.04) feed conversion ratio throughout the entire experimental period. The CMEOs-900 treatment increased (ANOVA and linear, P < 0.05) total antioxidant capacity and the enzyme activity of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase in the serum of broilers, compared with the control and other treatments. Feeding CMEOs-900 increased (ANOVA and linear, P < 0.05) 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2ʹ-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) diammonium salt free radical-scavenging activities, as well as decreased (ANOVA and linear, and quadratic, P < 0.05) malondialdehyde levels in breast meat at various times of storage, and serum compared with the control and other groups. The group fed CMEOs-900 increased (ANOVA, P < 0.05) breast meat pH values and water-holding capacity at 7 and 14 days of storage compared to the control and other groups. Broilers fed CMEOs-900 showed a higher (ANOVA and linear, P < 0.05) immune response against phytohemagglutinin and 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene challenge, antibody titers against Newcastle disease virus, total anti-sheep red blood cell titer, immunoglobulin M, immunoglobulin G, as well as lower (ANOVA and linear, P < 0.05) heterophil count, and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratio compared to the control and other groups. In conclusion, supplementing CMEOs-900 in the broilers' diet improves productive parameters, cellular and humoral immune responses, antioxidant enzyme activity, meat quality, and oxidative stability.

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