Table 5.
Effects of essential oil supplementation on small intestine morphology of weaned piglets 1.
| Item | CON | AB | EO | SEM | p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duodenum | |||||
| Villus height, μm | 34 b | 414 a | 407 a | 16.4 | 0.02 |
| Crypt depth, μm | 243 | 240 | 251 | 18.7 | 0.92 |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 1.43 | 1.74 | 1.63 | 0.09 | 0.08 |
| Jejunum | |||||
| Villus height, μm | 376 | 377 | 410 | 25.3 | 0.57 |
| Crypt depth, μm | 249 | 214 | 228 | 18.8 | 0.43 |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 1.51 b | 1.76 a | 1.82 a | 0.05 | <0.01 |
| Ileum | |||||
| Villus height, μm | 271 | 303 | 280 | 21.0 | 0.56 |
| Crypt depth, μm | 188 | 197 | 189 | 17.8 | 0.92 |
| Villus height: Crypt depth | 1.48 | 1.54 | 1.49 | 0.09 | 0.87 |
CON = basal diets; AB = basal diets supplemented with 20 mg/kg colistin sulfate and 40 mg/kg zinc bacitracin; EO = basal diets supplemented with 100 mg/kg essential oil blend. 1 Values are means of six observations per treatment, and different superscripts within a row indicate a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05).