RESUMO
The objective of the current study was to investigate the influence of sesame meal bioactive peptides (SMBP) individually or in combination with a mixture of savory (Satureja khuzestanica) and thyme (Thymus daenensis) essential oils (STEO) on growth performance, carcass, jejunal morphology, and cecal microbial composition of broiler chickens. A total number of 250-day-old male Ross broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 5 dietary treatments with 5 replicates per each. Dietary treatments were a corn-soybean meal diet as control; control diet supplemented with 0.5 g/kg of Bacitracin as antibiotic (A); 3 g/kg of SMBP; 0.5 g/kg of STEO; and a combination of 3 g/kg of SMBP and 0.5 g/kg of STEO. Results indicated that inclusion of SMBP + STEO in diet improved body weight gain and feed conversion ratio during 11 to 24 days (P < 0.05). Dietary treatments had no significant effect on the carcass characteristics and internal organs. In jejunal morphology, the villus length (VL) and the ratio of VL to crypt depth (CD) were greater in birds which received SMBP + STEO diets, while CD was lower in broilers fed with SMBP + STEO diet (P < 0.05). Inclusion of SMBP in combination with STEO increased viable count of Lactobacillus while the population of E. coli decreased in birds fed with SMBP + STEO diet (P < 0.05). According to the results of this experiment, it can be concluded that dietary SMBP in combination with STEO had positive effects on the growth performance, jejunal morphometric indices, and cecal microbial composition of broiler chickens.