Abstract
Production of safe and healthy poultry diets of high profitability is the
central aim of poultry men. This safety is achieved by using natural products as growth
stimulants. Natural feed additives such as medicinal products derived from herbs and
spices are mainly used in the poultry feed industry as appetite and enzyme secretion
stimulants. The use of clove (Syzygium aromaticum) and its derivatives has lately
received much greater attention as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. The clove
exhibited strong antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-septic and anti-inflammatory properties
and appetite and digestion stimulants. The clove and its derivatives contain bioactive
components, including eugenol, eugenyl acetate, ᵦ-caryophyllene, salicylic acid, ferulic
acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, kaempferol, methyl amyl ketone, humulene, gallotannic
acid, and crategolic acid that have beneficial effects. Eugenol is the main bioactive
component present in the clove. The potential advantages of utilizing clove extracts in
poultry diets include improved growth performance, egg production and feed
conversion ratio, enhanced digestion, and down-regulated disease incidence. From the
available literature, clove and its essential oil is one of the beneficial plant extracts to
increase growth performance in poultry by improving the intestinal microbiota
population. Clove extract contains various molecules (principally eugenol) that have
self-biological activities in poultry physiology and metabolism. This chapter includes
information on clove and its derivatives in poultry nutrition.