ABSTRACT The objective was to examine the effects of supplementing different levels of zeolite in the diet of laying hens during the laying phase, at 54 weeks of age, on production performance, egg quality, ammonia volatilization, excreta pH, blood parameters, weight, and organ morphometry. The treatments consisted of a control diet free of zeolite and five diets including increasing levels of zeolite (0.7, 1.4, 2.1, 2.8, and 3.5%). A completely randomized design was adopted with eight replicates of five birds per plot, totaling 240 laying hens, for four 28-day periods. Results were subjected to ANOVA, Dunnett’s test, and regression analysis at 5% probability. The zeolite levels had no significant effect on production performance, egg quality, and blood parameters. The zeolite levels have a significant effect on ammonia volatilization, excreta pH, liver weight, and organ morphometry specifically on the intestinal length. Ammonia and pH reached a linear plateau. Ammoniacal nitrogen levels in the excreta differed from that observed in the control group at all zeolite levels, whereas the pH was lowest at the zeolite inclusion levels of 0.7 and 1.4%. Ammonia volatilization and the pH value of the excreta decreased by 46.9% and 4.6%, when the laying hens consumed diets with 0.93% and 1.19% zeolite, respectively. There was an effect on the relative weight of the organs, with higher liver yield and intestinal length provided by zeolite inclusion. Therefore, zeolite can be included in the diet of commercial layers at up to 0.93% without affecting their production performance or egg quality.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar as características morfológicas e os parâmetros da produção de biomassa, tais como o peso de matéria fresca e seca (FMW e DMW, g/planta), o rendimento da matéria seca (YDM) em termos de ton/ha, o índice de óleo essencial (EOC, mL/100 g) e o rendimento dos óleos essenciais (YEO) expressos em L/ha das plantas Salvia verbenaca, Salvia argentea, Salvia lavandulifolia, Salvia pratensis, Salvia sclarea, Salvia triloba e Salvia officinalis. À exceção de Salvia argentea (S2), todas as demais espécies adaptaram-se às condições de clima do sul do Brasil, com diferenças morfológicas entre as espécies avaliadas. Em termos de DMW e de YDM, S. officinalis foi observada como a mais produtiva com 445,83 g/planta e 11,14 ton/ha. O índice e o rendimento de óleo essencial mais elevado também foi observado em S. officinalis, com 1,99 mL/100g e 221,74 L/ha, respectivamente. A caracterização química dos óleos essenciais obtidos por hidrodestilação foi feita por CG e CG/EM, revelando, para a maioria das espécies estudadas, α e β-tujona, cânfora e 1.8 cineol como compostos principais, já S. sclarea apresentou linalol, acetato linalila e α-terpineol como componentes principais.

The aim of this work is to assess the morphological characteristics and parameters of biomass production, such as fresh and dry matter weight (FMW and DMW, g/plant), yield of dry matter (YDM) in terms of ton/ha, essential oil content (EOC, mL/100 g) and yield of essential oils (YEO) expressed as L/ha of the following plants Salvia verbenaca, Salvia argentea, Salvia lavandulifolia, Salvia pratensis, Salvia sclarea, Salvia triloba and Salvia officinalis. Except for Salvia argentea (S2) all other species have adapted to the south Brazilian climate conditions, with morphological differences among the species evaluated. In terms of DMW and YDM, S. officinalis was found to be the most productive species with 445.83 g/plant and 11.14 ton/ha. The higher essential oil content and yield was observed for S. officinalis, affording 1.99 mL/100 g and 221.74 L/ha, respectively. Chemical characterisation of the essential oils obtained from hydrodistillation was performed through GC and GC/MSD analyses, which revealed for most of the species studied, α e β-thujone, camphor and 1,8-cineole as major compounds, apart from S. sclarea, for which linalool, linalyl acetate and α-terpineol were the major components.