Impact of Microencapsulated Cardamom Essential Oil on Growth Performance, Health Markers, and Antioxidant Capacity in Environmentally Stressed Goats

Global climate change exerts adverse pressures on food security, with the livestock industry particularly vulnerable to heat stress, a major environmental stressor responsible for substantial economic repercussions.The present study investigated the impact of dietary supplementation with microencapsulated cardamom essential oil (NCEO) on growth indices, heamatological parameters, organ histopathology, immune competence, and antioxidant status in growing goats exposed to natural environmental stress from May to August. Thirty two growing male Damascus goats were divided into four groups (n=8 goat of each group), 4-month-old healthy goats (14.23±1.14) were randomly assigned to receive diets supplemented with nano-encapsulated cardamom essential oil (NCEO) at concentrations of 0 (NCEO0), 100 (NCEO100), 200 (NCEO200), and 400 (NCEO400) mg/kg diet, respectively for 4 months. Dietary inclusion of NCEO significantly promoted growth indices (P < 0.05) and feed conversion efficiency (FCR) (P < 0.05) relative to the control. However, feed intake (FI) remained unaffected significantly by NCEO supplementation (P > 0.05). Furthermore, all-NCEO supplemented diets significantly enhanced erythrocyte (except for NCEO100 group), hemoglobin, and platelets as compared to control group (P < 0.05). White blood cells (WBCs) were significantly reduced by the NCEO supplementation. Regarding cellular immunity, IgG and IgM levels exhibited a significant increase in response to NCEO supplementation (P < 0.001). In terms of oxidative stress, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels exhibited a significant decrease in all-NCEO supplemented groups (P < 0.0001). Goats fed diets with NCEO had higher levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities when compared to stressed goats (P < 0.001). Microscopic examination of tissues revealed maintained hepatic and ruminal architecture in the groups receiving NCEO. Conclusively, these results suggest that dietary supplementation with NCEO at levels of 200-400 mg/kg can significantly enhance growth performance, hematological parameters, homeostasis, maintain organ integrity, and improve immune competence in growing goats exposed to natural environmental stressors.