Lavender essential oil as a novel anticoccidial agent: First report from in-vitro and in-vivo studies of Lavandula angustifolia flowering plant grown in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Coccidiosis remains a major challenge in the global poultry industry, exacerbated by the emergence of resistance to conventional anticoccidial drugs. This study investigates the anticoccidial potential of lavender essential oil (LEO), extracted from Lavandula angustifolia cultivated in the Kashmir Himalayas, both in-vitro and in-vivo. Eimeria species from the infected samples were subjected to ITS-1 rDNA analysis for molecular confirmation. This approach validated five of the seven Eimeria species identified morphologically in the pooled sample, with the confirmed isolates showing a high degree of sequence similarity to corresponding Eimeria strains available in GenBank. Purified Eimeria oocysts (2.5 × 105/mL) were in-vitro exposed to six concentrations of LEO (0.31 to 10%) to assess its effect on oocyst sporulation. LEO exhibited a significant, dose-dependent inhibition of in-vitro oocyst sporulation when compared with the synthetic drug control, sulfaquinoxaline. For the in-vivo trail, broiler chicken feed was supplemented with LEO at 24, 48 and 96 mg/kg of feed. One group of chicken as standard drug control was treated with amprolium at 1 g/L of drinking water. Anticoccidial efficacy was evaluated based on oocyst output, weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and histopathological changes. LEO supplementation significantly reduced fecal oocyst shedding, improved growth performance and mitigated intestinal damage caused by Eimeria infection. These results from the birds fed LEO at 48 mg/kg of feed were better than other treatment groups including the amprolium treated group. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of LEO revealed the presence of multiple bioactive constituents that could be likely responsible for the observed beneficial effects. These findings provide the first comprehensive evidence of the anticoccidial efficacy of LEO, suggesting its promise as a natural alternative to conventional anticoccidial agents in poultry production.