Study On The Effect Of Mulberry Water Extrac On The Production Performance,intestinal Health And Antioxidant Properties Of Broiler Chickens Attacked By Escherichia Coli

Mulberry water extract(MWE)is a specific active substance extracted from mulberry leaf powder by boiling,which contains a large number of active ingredients such as mulberry leaf flavonoids,mulberry leaf polysaccharides and mulberry leaf alkaloids.Mulberry water extract has antioxidant,antibacterial,growth-promoting,hypoglycaemic and lipid-lowering functions.This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of mulberry water extract on the growth performance,intestinal morphological structure,intestinal microflora and antioxidant properties of broiler chickens attacked by E.coli.A 2×2 two-factor randomised trial design was used to randomly divide 256 1-day-old yellow-finned broilers(whole females)into 4 groups of 8 replicates each,with a pre-test period of 7 days and a positive test period of 28 days.Attack method: 2 mL of Escherichia coli(K88)culture at a concentration of 1.0×109 CFU/mL was administered to the attacking chickens for three consecutive days from 33 to 35 days of age,and 2 mL of saline was administered to the non-attacking chickens daily.Control group(CON group): basal diet;E.coli attack group(EC group): basal diet + attack;mulberry leaf extract group(MWE group): basal diet + 1200mg/kg mulberry leaf extract;mulberry leaf extract attack group(ECMWE): basal diet +1200 mg/kg mulberry leaf extract + attack.At 35 days of age,one chicken was randomly slaughtered from each replicate and relevant samples were collected for determination.The results of the study were as follows.1)In terms of production performance,the addition of mulberry water extract to the diet had no significant effect on ADFI,ADG and F/G of broilers from 1 to 4 weeks of age in the trial(P>0.05);after the test broilers were infused with E.coli(K88)attack,the addition of mulberry water extract increased ADG,reduced F/G and diarrhoea rate of broilers(P<0.01)very significantly compared to the non-addition of mulberry water extract.The rate of diarrhoea in broilers was significantly increased in the E.coli-attacked group compared to the non-attacked group(P<0.05).There was a significant interaction between mulberry water extract and E.coli attack on ADFI(P<0.01).2)Organ index: The addition of Mulberry water extract and E.coli attack had no significant effect on the organ index of broiler chickens(P>0.05),while the addition of Mulberry water extract tended to reduce the spleen index(P<0.1).3)Serum biochemistry and antioxidant: the addition of Mulberry water extract to the diet significantly increased the AST content in serum(P<0.05),and the E.coli attack group had a tendency to increase the UREA content and decrease the LDL-C content in serum(P<0.1);the E.coli attack group significantly decreased the activity of GSH-Px and CAT in serum(P<0.05),while the Mulberry water extract group.The activity of GSH-Px and CAT in serum was significantly increased in the group of Mulberry water extract(P<0.05).4)Intestinal morphology: The addition of Mulberry water extract to the diet significantly increased the ratio of villi height/crypt depth(V/C)in the broiler jejunum(P<0.05).The addition of Mulberry water extract tended to increase the villus height and decrease the crypt depth of jejunum and ileum in the jejunum(P<0.1).5)In terms of intestinal microorganisms: The addition of mulberry water extract to the diet significantly altered the structure of the microflora of the broiler cecum and reduced the richness and diversity of the flora.at the phylum level,the phylum Firmicutes,Bacteroidetes,Tenericutes and Actinobacteria were the main dominant phylum,and the addition of mulberry water extract had a tendency to reduce the proportion of Firmicutes;At the genus level,the dominant genera were Bacteroides,Lactobacillus,Ruminococcus torques and Ruminococcaceae UCG-014,based on the relative abundance of microbial colonies in the cecum.97 % of the relative abundance of microbial colonies and Kruskal-Wallis and Metastats were analysed to screen for microorganisms that differed between groups,and the addition of aqueous extracts of mulberry leaves improved the performance of Bifidobacterium,Alistipes,Streptococcus,Lachnospiraceae＿UCG-004 and Lachnoclostridium spp.and reduced the abundance of Ruminococcaceae＿UCG-005,Ruminococcaceae＿UCG-011 and Ruminococcaceae＿UCG-013(P<0.05).E.coli attack significantly increased the abundance of Dorea and Ruminiclostridium＿5 genera(P<0.05).Besides,there was an interaction between mulberry water extract and E.coli tapping on Shuttleworthia,Peptococcus and Lachnospiraceae＿UCG-004 genera in the cecum(P<0.05).In conclusion,the addition of 1200 mg/kg of mulberry water extract to broiler diets can alleviate the adverse effects of E.coli attack,reduce diarrhoea,improve broiler growth performance,enhance antioxidant capacity,improve the morphological structure of broiler intestines,improve the microbiota of the cecum,reduce the richness and diversity of the flora and improve growth performance,so mulberry water extract has the potential to be used as an alternative to antibiotics in production.Therefore,and mulberry water extract has the potential to replace antibiotics in production.