29G-5 |
Effect of feeding garlic on preventing/reducing intestinal colonization of Campylobacter jejuni in broilers |
G. ZHANG, L. Ma, and M. P. Doyle. Center for Food Safety, Univ. of Georgia, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, 1109 Experiment St., Griffin, GA 30223-1797 Garlic has been used to treat infectious intestinal diseases in human because it is highly antimicrobial to some bacteria and fungi. This study was done to determine the preventive and therapeutic effect of feeding ground garlic on colonization of Campylobacter jejuni in broilers. Sixteen broilers (41 weeks of age), pre-colonized experimentally with 6 C. jejuni isolates, were randomly assigned into eight groups and fed ground garlic at 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5g/day/broiler. Ground garlic was mixed with feed and fed for seven consecutive days. Cecal shedding of C. jejuni before, during, and after garlic feeding was monitored. Results revealed that, regardless of the dosage fed, garlic had no significant effect on colonization of C. jejuni. In another trial, fifteen broilers (42 weeks of age), pre-colonized with one C. jejuni isolate, were fed ground garlic at 3.5g/day/broiler for three consecutive days. There were no significant changes in the shedding of C. jejuni in these experimentally infected broilers. To determine the preventive effect of feeding garlic on colonization of Campylobacter, Campylobacter-negative broilers (45 weeks of age) were co-caged with pre-colonized (one strain of C. jejuni) broilers (as seeders) and fed ground garlic (2.5 and 3.5g/day/broiler) daily. On day 5, cecal shedding of Campylobacter in these birds was determined. All the birds were positive for Campylobacter. However, birds receiving the 3.5g garlic treatment carried less Campylobacter than those receiving 2.5g treatment. Results suggest that feeding garlic is not effective in preventing Campylobacter colonization in adult broilers. However, the effect of feeding garlic on preventing the colonization of Campylobacter in young broilers merits study since the microbial flora in the intestines of young birds are less stable than that in adult birds and therefore, might be more sensitive to the antimicrobial activity of garlic.
Session 29G, Food Microbiology: General
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