Volatile Oils as Green Alternative to Antibiotics in Poultry

Abstract

Extensive use of antibiotics against foodborne pathogens has resulted in additional antibiotic resistance to bacteria that has become a matter of great concern to public health. This has requested an urgent need to find new and effective natural antimicrobials to combat the diseases caused by foodborne pathogenic bacteria. There has been an increasing concern worldwide on the therapeutic values of natural products. The volatile compounds in the plant oil extracts minimize the CFU numbers of the target pathogen to an extended limit and maintain the shelf-life of meat products significantly. In this issue, Al.Maqtari and Alhamzi describe the incidence of Salmonella in poultry gizzards and reported the antibacterial activity of various volatile oils against bacterial isolates. Based on the biological efficacy of plant-derived volatile oils, consideration can be made on their prophylactic and therapeutic applications as alternatives to antibiotics in poultry.