EVALUATION OF OREGANO AND ROSEMARY ESSENTIAL OILS FOR THE PREVENTION OF NEONATAL DIARRHEA IN PIGLETS

ABSTRACT In order to verify the preventive effect of the liquid emulsion of a mix of essential oils of oregano (Origanum vulgare) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) in the control of neonatal diarrhea in nursing piglets, an experiment was conducted using a randomized experimental design composed by two simple treatments. Piglets from the same litter, born to females with different orders of births, were divided into two groups of piglets without clinical signs of neonatal diarrhea. The first group of 661 pigs received the control treatment (1 mL kg-1 saline) while the second group with 672 animals received essential oils of oregano (60% carvacrol and 15% thymol) and 2% essential oil of rosemary in the form of a 5% liquid emulsion at a dose of 1 mL kg-1. All the treatments were administered orally on the first and third day of the piglets’ life, and in regard to the index parameter for the prevention and causes of mortality of piglets, each animal represented a repetition. There was no significant difference between the treatments related to the rate of prevention of neonatal diarrhea in piglets. The results showed that the mix of essential oils from oregano and rosemary do not prevent diarrhea in neonatal piglets.