Herbs and phytogenic feed additives in poultry nutrition

The aim of the study was to review the results of scientific research on the effect of herbs and phytogenic feed additives used in poultry nutrition on animal welfare, breeding conditions, and the quality of meat. The article explains the importance of feed additives used in poultry nutrition. It discusses the role of herbs and phytogenic feed additives in nutrition in the context of the increasing demand for and consumption of poultry meat. The article also analyzes the influence of herbs and phytogenic feed additives on animal welfare, rearing conditions, and meat quality. The results of research on the effect of herbs and phytogenic feed additives used in poultry nutrition are not unequivocal. In view of the high demand for poultry meat, there is need for continued research on the optimal composition of herbal mixtures in nutrition to obtain good breeding conditions and high quality meat.

Exploration of Medicinal Plants: Tinuktuk Concoction in Simalungunese, Indonesia

Plant species have been applied in the traditional treatment of certain diseases since ancient history. The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of medicinal plants, specifically tinuktuk, in Simalungunese, North Sumatra, Indonesia. This effort shows the potentials of local knowledge in preparing herbal mixtures, based on geographical existence. The sample concoction was analyzed qualitatively for its health properties, using a pragmatic approach. Subsequent data were obtained from focus group discussions and field demonstrations to determine the plant types, processing mechanisms and efficacy. The results showed that the leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, tubers, and rhizomes of 18 herbal plant varieties were utilized, alongside the evaluation of 8 medicinal properties. Among the species, Zingiberaceae, Arecaceae, and Euphorbiaceae belonged to genera, while Areacaceae, Poaceae, Rutaceae, and Zingiberaceae families were predominantly applied. Therefore, the efficacy determination of tinuktuk concoction appears significant in terms of facilitating lactation during childbirth and subsequently eliminating the unclean blood, enhancing immunity, maintaining stamina and increasing the appetite. In summary, the sample is suitable as a herbal medicine and a product of local knowledge in the treating various ailments across generations.

Herbal Mixtures: Aspects Related to the Quality of Chinese Medicine Formulas and Perspectives for Products Registration in Brazil

Traditional medicine products are easily found in different regions of the world. Given this scenario, the World Health Organization (WHO) is very interested in the rational insertion of these resources, especially in primary pharmaceutical care in emerging countries. One of the main concerns of the WHO is with the population's access to traditional medicine products without quality guaranteed by regulatory and health control agencies in the country of origin. In ancient Chinese Pharmacology and Medicine, products based on associated drugs, used by boiling in water (decoction), successfully contribute to maintaining the health of Chinese people. In Brazil, the sanitary legislation of herbal mixtures for medicinal teas allows the sanitary notification of these products as traditional herbal medicines. On the other hand, the lack of clinical services to monitor consumption and the scarcity of evidence to ensure safety and efficacy, add to the inadequacy of the products to sanitary standards, the lack of inspection, and the definition of quality parameters for the evaluation of mixtures. Due to the chemical complexity of herbal mixtures, the correct identification of drugs through conventional techniques is usually possible for individual species, making it necessary to develop more comprehensive approaches. These testes allow to investigate the presence and/or absence of multiple pre-established markers, through the concept of fingerprint similarity and evaluation by chemometric tools. Liquid chromatography integrated with mass spectrometry and multivariate data analysis proved to be the most used method. Among the objectives of this critical and prospective review are: to describe the probable origin of medicinal teas, the theoretical foundation of the compositions in pharmacology and traditional Chinese medicine, the modern techniques developed in the quality control of herbal mixtures, and the perspectives for rational and safe insertion of traditional herbal medicines in Brazilian pharmaceutical care.

Exploration of Medicinal Plants: Tinuktuk Concoction in Simalungunese, Indonesia

Plant species have been applied in the traditional treatment of certain diseases since ancient history. The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy of medicinal plants, specifically tinuktuk, in Simalungunese, North Sumatra, Indonesia. This effort shows the potentials of local knowledge in preparing herbal mixtures, based on geographical existence. The sample concoction was analyzed qualitatively for its health properties, using a pragmatic approach. Subsequent data were obtained from focus group discussions and field demonstrations to determine the plant types, processing mechanisms and efficacy. The results showed that the leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, tubers, and rhizomes of 18 herbal plant varieties were utilized, alongside the evaluation of 8 medicinal properties. Among the species, Zingiberaceae, Arecaceae, and Euphorbiaceae belonged to genera, while Areacaceae, Poaceae, Rutaceae, and Zingiberaceae families were predominantly applied. Therefore, the efficacy determination of tinuktuk concoction appears significant in terms of facilitating lactation during childbirth and subsequently eliminating the unclean blood, enhancing immunity, maintaining stamina and increasing the appetite. In summary, the sample is suitable as a herbal medicine and a product of local knowledge in the treating various ailments across generations.

Determination of the total content of flavonoids in herbal mixtures with anti-diabetic activity

Diabetes mellitus is an important social and medical problem, as it causes the development of dangerous complications that lead to disability and mortality. This disease is characterized by a multi-vector pathogenesis that requires a comprehensive approach to treatment. Due to the use of mixtures of medicinal plants in the treatment of diabetes, it is possible to cover all aspects of the development of this disease and its complications, because the combination of different medicinal plants contain more biologically active substances that affect all parts of the pathogenetic mechanism of diabetes mellitus and its complications. Plant biocompounds have a wide range of pharmacological action and various mechanisms of influence on the development of diabetes and diabetic angiopathies (inactivation of the antioxidant defense system, activation of lipid peroxidation and the development of oxidative stress). In addition, the niche of the pharmaceutical market of Ukraine with phytomixtures is almost empty. The aim of the work was to study the total flavonoid content in some herbal mixtures, which have established hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antioxidant activity in previous studies in vivo The study of the total flavonoid content in herbal samples was carried out by UV-spectrophotometry with the recording of the absorption spectrum of complexation product of flavonoids with aluminum chloride (λmax 415 nm) in terms of rutin. According to the results of UV-spectrophotometric determination, it was found that the total flavonoid content in the herbal mixture No 3 was 1.47 ± 0.04%, in the herbal mixture No 4 – 1.78 ± 0.04%, in the herbal mixture No 7 – 1.29 ± 0.02%, in the herbal mixture No 13 – 1.16 ± 0.02% and in the herbal mixture No 19 – 3.62 ± 0.06% in terms of rutin. It was found that the best flavonoid content (3.62 ± 0.06%) was found in the plant mixture № 19, which contains nettle leaves, dandelion roots, blueberry leaves, rose hips and peppermint herb. Phytochemical studies may indicate a correlation between the content of flavonoids and pharmacological properties of the studied mixtures, because the functional hydroxyl groups of the latter cause strong antioxidant activity by neutralizing free radicals, chelation of heavy metal ions, increasing the activity of antioxidant protection products, which has been confirmed in previous in vivo and in vitro studies.

Ruminal ammonia concentration and fermentation kinetics of commercial herbal feed additives with amino acids

The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical composition of rumen fermentation while estimating it’s in vitro protein degradation (from ruminal ammonia concentration) and kinetics regarding two herbal feed plant additives. The tested herbal mixtures were elaborated with Phaseolus mango and Linum usitatissimum, providing lysine (Lys) and Trigonella foenum-graecum and Allium sativa, providing Methionine (Met). They were compared to alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and solvent extracted soybean meal (Glicine max), as standard sources of protein using the in vitro gas production technique modified to estimate N-NH3, recording fermentation kinetics and dry matter digestibility (72 h), in a completely randomized design followed by Tukey test. Ruminal ammonia concentration in the herbal mixtures was lower (P<0.05) than in the standard protein sources, indicating that protein from herbal mixtures could resist ruminal degradation. Herbal additives with Lys or Met showed minimum N-NH3 concentration in the first 4 h of incubation. At 8 h, the concentration was 0.27 and 0.54 mg dL-1 for the herbal products with Lys and Met, significantly lower than solvent extracted soybean meal and alfalfa (1.15 and 2.24 mg dL-1 respectively, P<0.05). Highlights The tested herbal mixture elaborated with Phaseolus mango and Linum usitatissimum, provide bypass Lysine. The tested herbal mixture elaborated with Trigonella foenum-graecum and Allium sativa, provide bypass Methionine. Ruminal ammonia concentration in the herbal mixtures was lower than in the standard protein sources. Protein from herbal mixtures could resist ruminal degradation.

Evaluation of heavy metal and microbial content of a multicomponent herbal preparation

Herbal mixtures are extensively consumed globally for medicinal use due to the belief that they are safe and readily accessible. The herbal preparation (SHM), evaluated in this study, is made up of 7 plants found in Nigeria and it is used internally and externally for varieties of disease conditions. The heavy metals and microbial content of SHM was evaluated. Three batches of the SMH were analyzed for presence of heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The microbial load was also evaluated by determining the total viable yeast, mould and coliform bacteria count. The metal and microbial content of the samples were compared with WHO permissible limits and differences in concentration among the batches were determined. Fe (0.010-0.100 mg/L) and Zn (0.010-0.030 mg/L) detected were significantly (P<0.05) lower than the permissible limits while Cu, Pb and Cd were absent. A batch had total yeast and mould count (4.95 x 103Cfu/mL) above the permissible limit whereas the other batches were below the limit. Microorganisms (yeasts, mould like Aspergillus flavus and Rhizoctonia solani) were present in all the batches and hence SHM may not be safe for internal use. Keywords: Herbal mixtures, Heavy metals, Microbial load, Atomic absorption spectrophotometer