Effectiveness of Binahong as a Natural Feed Additive in Ruminant and Monogastric Livestock

Abstract

Research to explore the potential of herbal plants as natural feed additives continues to be carried out in line with the ban on the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP). The antibacterial activity of secondary metabolic substances from herbal plants is expected to be effective in improving growth performance, feed digestibility, reproduction and livestock physiology, apart from that the risk of residual effects accumulating from the use of AGP is not found in herbal plants. One of the herbal plants that has quite complex secondary metabolic substances is binahong. The polyphenol, saponin, tannin and flavonoid content of binahong has been proven to be effective in acting as an antibacterial, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, and healing agent in ruminant and monogastric livestock. Saponin plays a big role in the performance tested. However, the effectiveness of using binahong as a natural feed additive also depends on the dose used.