Department of Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gödöllő, Hungary.
Dr. Bata Ltd, Ócsa, Hungary.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 17;17(3):e0265573. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265573. eCollection 2022.
A wide range of phytobiotic feed additives are available on the market claiming to have beneficial effects on the growth of the host animal and to promote the development of a balanced microflora. The present study investigated the effects of the phytobiotic-prebiotic mixture of curcumin, wheat germ, and chicory on the growth performance and on the intestinal microflora composition of weaning piglets. Post weaning diarrhea causes significant losses for the producers, most commonly it is prevented by feeding high doses of zinc oxide (ZnO). The effect of a phytobiotic-prebiotic feed additive (1 kg T-1) was compared to a positive control (3.1 kg T-1 ZnO) and to a negative control (no feed supplement) in an in vivo animal trial. There was no significant difference in the final body weight and average daily gain of the trial and positive control groups, and both groups showed significantly (P<0.05) better results than the negative control. The feed conversion ratio of the phytobiotic-prebiotic supplemented group was significantly improved (P<0.05) compared to both controls. Both phytobiotic-prebiotic mixture and ZnO were able to significantly reduce (P<0.05) the amount of coliforms after weaning, even though ZnO reduced the amount of coliforms more efficiently than the trial feed additive, it also reduced the amount of potentially beneficial bacteria. Metagenomic data also corroborated the above conclusion. In the trial and positive control groups, the relative abundance of Enterobacteriaceae decreased by 85 and 88% between 3 weeks and 6 weeks of age, while in the negative control group a slight increase occurred. Lactobacillaceae were more abundant in the trial group (29.98%) than in the positive (8.67%) or in the negative (22.45%) control groups at 6 weeks of age. In summary, this study demonstrated that a phytobiotic-prebiotic feed additive may be a real alternative to ZnO for the prevention of post weaning diarrhea and promote the development of a balanced gut system.
市场上有大量的植物源饲料添加剂声称对宿主动物的生长有有益的影响，并促进平衡微生物群的发展。本研究调查了姜黄素、小麦胚芽和菊苣的植物源-益生元混合物对断奶仔猪生长性能和肠道微生物区系组成的影响。断奶后腹泻会给生产者造成重大损失，最常见的预防方法是高剂量使用氧化锌（ZnO）。在体内动物试验中，将植物源-益生元饲料添加剂（1 公斤 T-1）的效果与阳性对照（3.1 公斤 T-1 ZnO）和阴性对照（无饲料补充）进行了比较。试验组和阳性对照组的最终体重和平均日增重没有显著差异，两组的结果均明显（P<0.05）优于阴性对照组。与对照组相比，添加植物源-益生元组的饲料转化率有显著提高（P<0.05）。植物源-益生元混合物和 ZnO 都能显著降低（P<0.05）断奶后大肠菌群的数量，尽管 ZnO 比试验饲料添加剂更有效地减少大肠菌群的数量，但它也减少了潜在有益细菌的数量。宏基因组数据也证实了上述结论。在试验组和阳性对照组中，肠杆菌科的相对丰度在 3 周和 6 周龄之间分别下降了 85%和 88%，而在阴性对照组中则略有增加。在 6 周龄时，试验组的乳杆菌科（29.98%）比阳性对照组（8.67%）和阴性对照组（22.45%）更丰富。总之，本研究表明，植物源-益生元饲料添加剂可能是替代 ZnO 预防断奶后腹泻并促进平衡肠道系统发育的一种真正选择。
