Antibiotics in poultry feed to boost growth performance are becoming increasingly contentious due to concerns over antimicrobial resistance development. Essential oils (EOs), as natural, plant-derived compounds, have demonstrated antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. EOs may potentially improve poultry health and growth performance when included in poultry feed. Nevertheless, the incorporation of EOs as nutritional additives is hindered by their high volatility, low water solubility, poor intestinal absorption, and sensitivity to environmental conditions. Recently, nanoencapsulation strategies using nanoformulations have emerged as a potential solution to these challenges, improving the stability and bioavailability of EOs, and enabling targeted delivery in poultry feed. This review provides an overview of the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of EOs, the current limitations of their applications in poultry feed, and the recent advancements in nano-engineering to overcome these limitations. Furthermore, we outline the potential future research direction on EO nanoformulations, emphasizing their promising role in advancing sustainable poultry nutrition. Highlights • Essential oils (EOs) are known as powerful antioxidants and antibacterial agents. • EOs have a high potential to replace antibiotics as feed additives. • Nanoformulations of EOs have shown improved bioactivity and storage stability of EOs. • Nanoformulation promotes the bioavailability and gut adsorption of EOs as feed additives.

中文翻译：

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用于家禽饲料的精油及其纳米制剂的最新进展


由于对抗菌素耐药性发展的担忧，家禽饲料中使用抗生素来提高生长性能正变得越来越有争议。精油 (EO) 作为天然植物源化合物，已表现出抗菌和抗氧化特性。当添加到家禽饲料中时，环氧乙烷可能会改善家禽的健康和生长性能。然而，环氧乙烷作为营养添加剂的应用因其高挥发性、低水溶性、肠道吸收差和对环境条件敏感而受到阻碍。最近，使用纳米制剂的纳米封装策略已成为应对这些挑战的潜在解决方案，提高了环氧乙烷的稳定性和生物利用度，并能够在家禽饲料中进行靶向递送。本综述概述了环氧乙烷的抗氧化和抗菌特性、其在家禽饲料中应用的当前局限性，以及克服这些局限性的纳米工程的最新进展。此外，我们概述了环氧乙烷纳米制剂未来潜在的研究方向，强调了它们在促进可持续家禽营养方面的前景广阔的作用。亮点 • 精油 (EO) 被称为强大的抗氧化剂和抗菌剂。 • 环氧乙烷有很大潜力取代抗生素作为饲料添加剂。 • EO 纳米制剂已显示出改善的 EO 生物活性和储存稳定性。 • 纳米制剂可促进EO 作为饲料添加剂的生物利用度和肠道吸收。