Research on herbal products for production of animals in the Netherlands

Since 2006 RIKILT is involved in projects dedicated to herbal products for production animals. The FYTO-V project was aimed to increase the rational use of herbal therapies for prevention and treatment of diseases in organic husbandry. Therefore state-of-the-art herbal products were evaluated. On the Dutch Market 60 suppliers were identified, trading over 255 preparations for production animals. Herbal products were mostly marketed as either aromatic feed additives or complementary feeds. Very few were registered as veterinary medicines. Quality and safety of selected products were assessed by in vitro research, consisting of bioassays on anti-oxidants, antimicrobial activity and hormonal activity. The effects of selected herbal products were demonstrated through animal studies. The legislation of herbal products in Europe and other countries was also studied. Bottlenecks are less related to the substances than to the claimed efficacy. To improve scientific acceptation of herbal products a website (www.fyto-V.nl) was created with databases on herbs, activities, indications, animal species and literature. Also a course in phytotherapy for the higher levels of agricultural education was developed. In the Naturally Healthy project booklets were made for organic farmers (poultry, dairy and pigs) with information on the use of herbal and other natural products, general management tips and information on herbal products, literature and experiences in practice. English translations of the booklets are available via internet.

Tab. 1: Research on herbs for animals in the Netherlands

Project	Results
Fyto-V	Website: http: www.fyto-v.nl/en/index2.php
	Databases on the internet with herbs, activities, products and suppliers
	Course in phytotherapy for the higher levels of agricultural education
	List of 60 suppliers with 255 products for pigs, cows, and poultry
	Bioassays for effects on anti-oxidants, antimicrobial action,
	Immune modulating and hormonal action, identification of biomarkers for gut health
	Report on legislation of herbs in Europe with recommendations
Naturally Healthy	Practical guides for farmers: Natural Dairy Cow Health, Swine Health and Poultry Health.
Quality and safety	Overview of herbs used in production animals and horses
	Contaminants: heavy metals, mycotoxins, illegal additions, plant toxins in 53 products
	Research on: Hormonal action (oestrogenic and androgenic
	Batch to batch analysis
	Antimicrobial action
	Immune modulating action

The current project for the Dutch Government is on Quality and safety of herbal products for production animals. Here the use of herbal products in production animals was investigated and samples were analysed for plant toxins, contaminants, hormones and animal drugs. Moreover in vitro antimicrobial activity of 23 products was investigated and immunomodulatory action of herbs was reviewed. For an overview of the project results see table 1.