The aim of this research was to evaluate the use of essential oil obtained from the fruits of Brazilian red pepper in the performance and intestinal morphometry of broilers. A total of 240 day-old male chicks Cobb were used, distributed in a randomized design in groups of five treatments and four replicates of 12 birds each: diet without antibiotics and anticoccidial agent (negative control); diet with antibiotic and anticoccidial agent (positive control); diets with 0.1% of Brazilian red pepper oil; diets with 0.2% of Brazilian red pepper oil; diets with 0.4% of Brazilian red pepper oil. Feed intake, body weight and feed conversion were influenced by treatments (P <0.05). It was observed that the broilers fed with the growth promoter antibiotic had a superior performance than the untreated broilers (P<0.05). In the period of 1-21 days, the inclusion of 0.4% Brazilian red pepper oil resulted in improvements in feed conversion and increased weight gain compared to other treatments (P<0.05). From 22-47 days of age it was observed that regardless of the level of Brazilian red pepper oil, their use resulted in a higher weight gain and final weight (P<0.05) and it was recorded a maximum villous height in broilers fed with Brazilian red pepper oil as compared to birds not treated with antibiotics (P<0.05). The Brazilian red pepper improved production rates and increased the intestinal absorptive surface.
broilers; Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi; essential oil; intestinal morphology and performance
