Evaluating the efficacy of cinnamaldehyde and Echinacea purpurea plant extract in broilers against Eimeria acervulina

Coccidiostats could be phased out as feed additives before 1 January 2013 for public health and food safety reasons, and, as a replacement, bioactive compounds found in plants are currently being investigated since they are more likely to be found acceptable by consumers. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of cinnamaldehyde (CIN) and Echinacea purpurea plant extract (EP) as additives by analyzing the performance traits, oocyst excretion and intestinal lesions following experimental infection with Eimeria acervulina. A total of 72 Ross male broilers were raised from 1 to 35 d and randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control, without additives (C); 150 mg kg−1 cinnamaldehyde (CIN); 1000 mg kg−1E. purpurea plant extract (EP); 150 mg kg−1 cinnamaldehyde plus 1000 mg kg−1E. purpurea plant extract (CIN + EP). At 25 d, 12 chickens per treatment were orally infected with E. acervulina. Coccidia infestation led to lower performance but with no significant differences between the infected groups. Oocyst output reached its peak from 6 to 9 d post-infection in all treatments. At duodenal level, gross lesion scores were lower for cinnamaldehyde diets (P < 0.05). A similar trend was observed in the microscopic lesion scores, with a non-significant reduction as a result of cinnamaldehyde addition (P > 0.05). Scoring methods for macro- and microscopic lesions showed a positive linear relationship (G = +0.70). Further studies are necessary to assess the possible anticoccidian action of the cinnamaldehyde and its value as an alternative or adjunct in therapeutic or prophylactic strategies.