Chicory Powder, An Alternative to Antibiotics Discovered By Researchers from Telangana

The onset of bird flu’s all across the world has been a source of problem for many, this has obviously led to poultry rearers to pump their poultry full of antibiotics. Chicory powder, discovered by Telangana researchers, offers an alternative.

PV Narsimha Rao’s Experiments on broilers at Telangana Veterinary University indicated that chicory The powder inhibited the development of antibiotics in the intestines. According to research led by Gurram Srinivas of the university's department of poultry science, College of Veterinary Science, the positive impact of chicory root powder in broilers may be attributable to the prebiotic characteristics of insulin. 

What is Inulin? 

According to a report submitted in the Plos One journal, Inulin is a soluble, fermentable fibre that is not digested by broiler digestive enzymes and acts as a substrate for good bacteria in birds' guts. According to the researchers, fermentation activity limits the growth of E. coli and Salmonella while selectively stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. 

The study was carried out to determine the influence of chicory root powder on the gastrointestinal performance of broilers. It involved 200 commercial male broiler chicks that were randomly divided into five treatment groups at random, with eight replications of five Each bird was grown in a battery brooder until it was 42 days old. The outcomes found that a 1 percent chicory root powder supplementation resulted in considerably increased body weight growth, feed intake and feed conversion In comparison to the antibiotics. 

Supplementation of chicory one per cent and 1.5 per cent groups significantly increased the goblet cell number in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum of broilers. Therefore, chicory root powder can be used as an alternative to antibiotics for improving the gut performance of broiler chicken 

The study also indicated that chicory root powder supplementation at 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent levels dramatically lowered gut pH and harmful bacteria count in broiler intestines.