Effects of Boswellia sacra powder and essential oil on growth, metabolic and antioxidant status, and intestinal microbial population in Japanese quail

To investigate the effects of different levels of powder and essential oil of Boswellia sacra (BS) leaves on the intestinal microflora and some blood parameters in Japanese quail chicks, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with six treatments and three replications. The experimental treatments included T1: base diet without additives (control), T2: base diet+ antibiotic bacitracin, T3: base diet+ 1 g of BS powder per kg of diet, T4: base diet+ 2 g of BS powder per kg of diet, T5: base diet+ 20 mg of BS essential oil per kg of diet, and T6: base diet+ 40 mg of BS essential oil per kg of diet. The results showed that the blood glucose concentration in T5 was significantly higher than T3 and T4 (p < /em><0.05). The highest concentration of high-density lipoproteins was observed in the blood of birds in T4 (p < /em><0.05). The population of Bifidobacterium spp. showed a significant increase (p < /em><0.05) in T2, T3, T5, and T6 compared to the control and T4. Treatments T3 and T6 exhibited a higher population of Lactobacillus spp. compared to the control, T2, T4, and T5 (p < /em><0.05). A higher population of Streptococcus spp. was also observed in T3 and T6 compared to T4 (p < /em><0.05). Overall, the results showed that the use of additive essential oil extracted from BS leaves in the concentration of 40 mg per kg of diet could improve the intestinal microbial population.