Essential oil onclusion in equine diet

Abstract

The concentrate to replace part of the forage in the diet, mainly cereal grains rich in starch, in order to meet the energy needs of the animal, may exceed the digestive capacity of the small intestine and reach the cecum and colon, resulting in changes in the microbiota and causing gastrointestinal disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of supplementation of carvacrol as essential oil on the apparent digestibility of nutrients, glucose and insulin responses postprandial fecal pH, plasma levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol and its fractions high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C). Will used eight animals, Mini-horse breed, geldings, aged 42±6 months, average weight 135±15 kg, fed a diet containing high relation concentrate:roughage, consisting of 60% commercial concentrate and 40 % of grass hay, which variation was the inclusion of essential oil containing 7% carvacrol, with the treatments divided according to the level of inclusion: 0 (control), 100, 200 and 300 ppm. The experimental design was 4x4 latin square with repeated measures over time and the data were subjected to analysis of variance with a significance level of 5%.