Hops Extract Lupulone as Antibiotic in Poultry

Filed in archive Food and Agriculture on December 8, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 4090990

Researchers have found that hops extracts have antimicrobial compounds such as lupulone that may be used to to control levels of the pathogenic bacteria Clostridium perfringens in the gut of chickens.

[The researchers]delivered different concentrations of lupulone via water to chickens inoculated with C. perfringens. After 22 days-the timeframe associated with clostridial disease in broiler chickens-C. perfringens counts were significantly reduced in the lupulone-treated group compared to another group of chickens that did not receive the lupulone treatment. The reductions ranged from 30 to 50 percent.

According to the team, the potential for lupulone as an antibiotic alternative in poultry rearing is feasible based on these results.

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