The Influence of Essential Oils on Gut Microbial Profiles in Pigs.

Modestas Ruzauskas,Arnoldas Pautienius,Egle Zokaityte,Vita Lele,Daiva Zadeike,Valdas Jakstas,Elena Bartkiene,Vytaute Starkute,Juozas Grigas,Paulina Zavistanaviciute,Arunas Stankevicius,Grazina Juodeikiene,Jurga Bernatoniene

doi:10.3390/ani10101734

Abstract

Simple SummaryIn recent years, the intake of ultra-processed foods has increased dramatically worldwide. Missing natural foods in the diet raise the need of biologically active food components that could compensate for this deficiency and help maintain proper immune status. In this study, the microbial changes in pigs as experimental animals were assessed as influenced by consumption of oregano extract combination with peppermint and thyme essential oils. The results demonstrated that the combination of plant extracts had a positive effect on the gastrointestinal tract of animals by increasing the number of probiotic bacteria. Based on the results obtained it may be outlined that the combination of oregano extract and peppermint and thyme essential oils can be promising ingredient as a functional component for the development of the new nutraceutical preparation.In recent years, the intake of ultra-processed foods has increased dramatically worldwide. Missing natural foods in the diet raise the need of biologically active food components that could compensate for this deficiency and help maintain proper immune status. This study used pigs as an animal model for the assessment of the impact of consumption of Origanum vulgare plant extract combined with Mentha piperita and Thymus vulgaris essential oils on microbial profile in intestines. A single group of weaned pigs received basal diet, while the other group basal diet supplemented with plant extract and two essential oils in the form of bilayer tablets prepared using “liquid/solid” phase technology. Metagenomic sequencing was performed with the aim to investigate changes of microbial communities in ileum, caecum, and colon. The results demonstrated that the combination of essential oils was non cytotoxic, and had a positive effect on the microbial composition in the large intestine of pigs due to significant increase in the number of probiotic bacteria. The amount of Lactobacillus was 2.5 times and Bifidobacterium 1.9 times higher in the animal group fed with supplement. The combination, however, had some negative impact on the variety of minor species in the distal part of the ileum. Additional studies need to be performed to obtain knowledge on how combinations of essential oils can change bacterial variety in the proximal part of the gastrointestinal tract.

Highlights

Research over the past years has shown that appropriate nutrition is a very important factor for ensuring the good immune status and enhancing the resistance to infections [1]
The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of Origanum vulgare plant extract, Mentha piperita, and Thymus vulgaris EOs and to evaluate microbial changes in the guts of pigs as experimental model by supplementing their diet with a combination of the aforementioned plant extract and two essential oils (EEOs) given in the form of bilayer coating tablets
Oregano herb was ground in a cross beater mill IKA A11 Basic Grinder (IKA Works, Guangzhou, China) and sieved using a vibratory sieve shaker AS 200 basic (Retch, United Kingdom) equipped with mint (Mentha piperita) essential oil and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) essential oil purchased from Sigma-Aldrich

Summary

Introduction

Research over the past years has shown that appropriate nutrition is a very important factor for ensuring the good immune status and enhancing the resistance to infections [1]. The increased consumption of ultra-processed foods requires exploration of natural ingredients to include in the diet. Some biologically active substances act on pathogenic bacteria while the others are known as modulators of immune system. Various biologically active substances are already known as modulators of immune system. Such compounds include polyphenols [3], micronutrients, and vitamins [4]. Different ingredients of functional foods have been investigated previously. Those include functional enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics, fibres, phytosterols, peptides, isoflavones, saponins, and others. Most of experiments have been performed in vitro; the data might be different in live organisms, as multiple factors may influence the activity of these substances

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