Natural Feed Additives for Poultry

The poultry sector is one of the largest food industries in the globe. In the near future, by 2050, it would be projected to be 121% of the year 2005 production. It has continual growth and industrialization in many parts of the world. Particularly, broiler production has shown exponential growth in global meat consumption and business profit, which will be higher in the next century. This could be because of its comparative advantages including good quality of nutrition, delicious taste, low-fat content, short production period, low production cost, rapid economic progress, and affordable price even for poor levels of society.

The production has ascended from 9 to 132 million tons in the year range of 1961 to 2019. Seventeen percent of global output is produced in the United States, which is the world's largest poultry meat producer followed by China and Brazil. Per capita, meat consumption has increased in the world poultry meat accounts for 70% of total meat consumed. Over 66 billion broilers are slaughtered in the world each year. From these amounts of slaughtered birds, nearly 110 million tons are produced per annum. Per capita, broiler meat consumption is higher in developed countries. For example, the average broiler meat consumption per capita in the United States, Brazil, and China is 48, 44.2, and 8.3 kg/head/yr, respectively, in 2017. These exponential broiler meat demands are an alarm to boost production.

Antibiotics have been used for many decades in the poultry industry to enhance production, promote growth performance, and protect birds from pathogenic microbes. For example, supplementation of broilers' diet with antibiotics could increase body weight gain by 5.8 % This improvement was explained by improved appetite and feed conversion efficiency, stimulation of the immune system, and increased vitality and regulation of the intestinal microflora.

Antibiotics are also important for fighting infectious pathologies such as necrotic enteritis and coccidiosis. Broadly, antibiotics are used in phytosanitary treatments, feed additives, and prophylactic treatments in animals and humans. Despite its important role, improper uses of antibiotics in animal farming have been reported to increase antimicrobial resistance bacteria as a public health threat, residues in animal products, and environmental pollution.

Consequently, the use of antibiotics as growth promoters was banned by the European Union in 2005 and China in 2020. To minimize health risks, consumers have great preferences for conventional broiler meat, resulting in shift to antibiotic-free broiler meat production around the globe. The ban on antibiotic use, combined with consumers' preferences, provoked scholars to look for antibiotic alternatives (29). This is important to apply sustainable feeding strategies of potential antibiotic alternatives for increasing antibiotic-free broiler meat production.