Astragalus

Astragalus membranaceus

Other Names:

Milk Vetch, Huang Qui, Ogi, Hwanggi, Bei Qi, Goat’s Horn, Green Dragon, Radix Astragali, Yellow Leader

Benefits

Immunity
Antibacterial
Antioxidant
Antiviral
Anti-inflammatory
Antihypertensive
Gastroprotective
Kidney-protection
Cardioprotective

Astragalus Astragalus membranaceus (or Astragalus propinquus) is a herbaceous perennial plant of the pea family and is most commonly used for immune enhancement. It is also one of the most important plant products used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for supporting immune resistance (wei qi) and energy production (bu qi). Astragalus active components include saponins, flavonoids and polysaccharides. Astragalus also contains an abundant source of potassium (10,000 ppm), magnesium (1,860 ppm) and calcium (1,700 ppm). Most nutrients are concentrated in the root, which are harvested from 4-year-old plants. Specific applications in poultry include:

Immune enhancement: Astragalus root powder serves as a good immune system booster if added to your flock's diet. Numerous research studies have proven its ability to prevent and protect cells against cell death and other harmful elements, such as free radicals and oxidation.
Kidney support: More recent studies have shown astragalus can slow the progress of kidney problems and protect the renal system.

Dosage: 10 to 66 drops/kg PO to help as an immune stimulant and for gastrointestinal problems and infections.

Poultry Specific Studies

Type	Plant Part	Dosage	Specific use	Results	Ref
Chicks	polysaccharide	0.25 mg/mL oral drops	Stress induced heart injury	significantly reduced TS-induced myocardial histopathological changes.	J Chen et al., 2022
Broilers	polysaccharide	200 ppm of diet	necrotic enteritis	alleviated intestinal inflammation in broilers challenged with NE probably by regulating intestinal immune, Th17/Treg balance, as well as intestinal microbiota and metabolites.	B Song et al., 2022
Chickens	polysaccharides	300 mg/kg of diet	GI health	significantly decreased the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium, Desulfovibrio, and Butyricicoccus, while increased the abundance of Firmicutes, Prevotella, Parabacteroides, Ruminococcus, and Alistipes. Significantly increase villus height (VH) and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (VH/CD) and remarkably upregulated occludin, claudin-1 and mucin-2 (MUC2) mRNA expression in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum	Y Qiao et al., 2022
Chickens	polysaccharides	150 mg/kg of diet	antioxidant	could improve production performance, antioxidant function and meat quality by changing cecal microbiota and serum metabolites	Y Qiao et al., 2022
Ducks	polysaccharides	0.6 g/L of diet	immunity	significantly improved intestinal injuries of villi length, V/C ratio, and wall thickness of the small intestine infected with Muscovy duck reovirus, effectively inhibited the reduction of IEL and GC caused by MDRV infection, subsequently increased sIgA and all the cytokine secretions at most time points, suggesting that APS pretreatment can effectively stimulate mucosal immune function by improving intestinal morphology and repair MDRV caused injures of small intestinal mucosal immune barrier in infected ducklings.	L Liao et al., 2021
Broilers		1g/kg of diet	immunity	can improve the growth performance and immune responses of juvenile broilers.	Shengjun Wu et al., 2018
Chickens	powder	100-300 mg/kg diet	immunity	increased the immune organs weight and IgG level and improved the liver and kidney functions and antioxidant status.	M Farag et al., 2018
Chickens		4 or 8 mg/kg of body weight	immunity	showed immunomodulatory effects broiler chicks infected with lipopolysaccharide and modulated the resulting negative effects.	M Farag et al., 2018
Chickens		3 g/kg feed	immunity	alleviated LPS-induced immunological stress response in chickens. The beneficial effect may be attributed to suppressing the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines through reducing the TLR4 and NF-B genes transcription, and therewith improving energy and protein metabolism.	L Shen et al., 2015
Chickens	powder	10,000 mg/kg of diet	antioxidant	increased average daily gain and feed conversion rate of broilers in grower period (22–42 d). Responses of antioxidant status varied by age.	H Wang et al., 2010
Chickens	polysaccharides	50 to 100 mg/kg in diet	immunity	can elevate the specific antibody titers to the Infectious bronchitis virus DNA vaccine at various time points after vaccination. Lymphocyte proliferative capacity and IL-1, IL-2, IL-8, and TNF- mRNA expression levels were increased.	P Zhang et al., 2017
Chickens	polysaccharides		immunity	could enhance the intestinal mucosal immune function of chickens.	C Shan et al., 2019
Chickens	polysaccharides	220 mg/kg of feed	immunity	When combined with probiotics, displayed synergistic modulation effects on immunity and intestinal microbiota.	S Li et al., 2008
Hens	powder	0.5%	immunity	was able to improve the composition of faecal microorganisms.	M Farag et al., 2019
Chickens	stems and leaves powder	1-1.5% of diet	immunity	may be clinically useful to boost the immune response in preventing infections such as Newcastle disease.	N Xi et al., 2013