Performance of Broilers Fed Diets Supplemented with Sanguinarine-Like Alkaloids and Organic Acids

Abstract

Primary Audience: Nutritionists, Production Personnel, Flock Supervisors SUMMARY Considerable controversy still remains on the use of antimicrobials to promote growth in animals raised for human consumption. Therefore, alternative strategies have been actively researched to replace these antimicrobials. This study evaluated the performance of broilers fed Sangrovit (1.5% sanguinarine, a quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid extracted from plants), a blend of organic acids (40% lactic, 7% acetic, 5% phosphoric, and 1% butyric) or a combination of Sangrovit and organic acids. One-day-old male broiler chicks (Cobb × Cobb 500) were placed in 44 floor pens, with 35 birds per pen. Birds were fed corn-soybean meal all-vegetable diets without growth promoters or anticoccidials, and were vaccinated for coccidiosis at placement. Four treatments and 11 replications were used. A negative control treatment, Sangrovit 50, 25 ppm (1 to 21 d and 22 to 42 d, respectively) of organic acids (8 kg/ton from 1 to 7 d, 6 kg/ton from 7 to 21 d, 4 kg/ton from 21 to 35 d, 2 kg/ton from 35 to 42 d), or both additives were tested. Body weight, feed intake, feed conversion, and intestinal villus height and crypt depth were evaluated weekly. Birds fed Sangrovit or organic acids had improved BW at 21 d (P ≤ 0.05), but not thereafter. Cumulative feed conversion was better in birds fed Sangrovit alone or in combination with organic acids (P ≤ 0.05). No differences were observed in villus height or crypt depth at 7, 14, 21 or 42 d. These results suggest that Sangrovit and the blend of organic acids used in this study were possibly beneficial additives for feeding programs designed without the addition of growth promoters.