The influence of the mixture of some plant powder with Anacardium occidentale shell liquid smoke on total bacteria and Escherichia coli in the ileum of broiler

Abstract Antibiotics/feed additives are commonly used in poultry rations to prevent disease, increase feed efficiency, and improve performance. Plants are the alternatives to replace antibiotics that are safe and without side effects for chicken meat consumers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of administration of a mixture of plant powder and Anacardium occidentale shell liquid smoke on the total bacteria and Escherichia coli in the broiler ileum. The plant mixture was: Phyllanthus niruri L. (PNP) powder: Anacardium occidentale shell liquid smoke (AOLS): Syzygium aromaticum leaf powder (SAP). The study used a Completely Randomized Design. In total, 80 one-day-old broiler chicks were allotted randomly into eight treatments with two replicates per treatment and 5 birds per replicate. The study with the following treatments: Control, Zn-Bacitracin 0.05%, T1 (1.25%: 0.125%: 0.313%), T2 (1.25%: 0.125%: 0.157%), T3 (0.625%: 0.125%: 0.157%). T4 (0.625%: 0.0625: 0.157%), T5 (0.313%: 0.0313: 0.625%), T6 (0.313%: 0.125%: 0.313%). To find out the total bacteria and Escherichia coli, the chicken is then slaughtered 2 hens per replicates to collect feces from the ileum. The results showed that the treatment of the mixture of PNP: AOLS: SAP was not significantly different (P>0.05) with Zn-bacitracin treatment on the total bacteria and Escherichia coli. However, the number of bacteria in T1 was lower than that of the Zn-bacitracin treatment, while the number of Escherichia coli in T1 was closer to the Zn-bacitracin treatment. It can be concluded that the PNP: AOLS: SAP (1.25%: 0.125%: 0.313%) mixture at T1 treatment has the potential as a natural antibiotic to replace Zn-bacitracin antibiotic in inhibiting total growth of bacteria and Escherichia coli in the ileum of broiler.