Effect of Plant Essential Oils on Immune Indices of Meat Ducks
Abstract：This study aimed to investigate the effects of adding different doses of plant essential oils to the diet on the levels of serum immunoglobulins and immune cytokines in meat ducks. A total of 400 one-day-old Zhongxin ducks were randomly divided into 4 groups, with 5 replicates per group and 20 ducks per replicate. The ducks were fed with experimental diets formulated by adding 0 (control group), 100 (experimental group 1), 200 (experimental group 2), and 400 mg/kg (experimental group 3) of plant essential oils to the basal diet. The pre-trial period was 7 days, and the main trial period was 20 days. The results showed that compared with the control group, adding 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg of plant essential oils significantly increased the levels of interleukin-2 and immunoglobulin G in the serum of meat ducks (P < 0.05). Adding 200 mg/kg of plant essential oils significantly increased the level of interferon-γ (P < 0.05). Adding 200 and 400 mg/kg of plant essential oils significantly increased the level of immunoglobulin A (P < 0.05). The study indicates that feeding meat ducks with appropriate amounts of plant essential oils can enhance their immune function, and the optimal addition level of plant essential oils under the conditions of this experiment is 200 mg/kg.
Keywords：Plant essential oilsImmune functionMeat ducks
Publication Date：2025-10-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：3( 44-46 )