Tailor-made probiotic products for the poultry industry

APELLA M. C.; ARGAÑARAZ MARTÍNEZ E.; PEREZ CHAIA A.; BABOT J.D.

San Miguel de Tucumán

Simposio; V International Symposium on Lactic Acid Bacteria SIBAL2016; 2016

CERELA-CONICET

Worldwide poultry meat production and consumption have fast increased in the last years due to the low and competitive price of this, compared to other meats, and its excellent dietary and nutritional properties. The growing demand of consumers for food quality and safety has accentuated the pressure on breeders and growers to increase the growth rate of birds and feed efficiency without using antibiotics as growth promoters. Global production is forecast to increase in the next years supported by new policies and scientific researches in the field of animal production and health, through the development of innovative technologies.The main challenges facing the breeding of poultry lie in controlling bacterial diseases and reaching an efficient performance of food. The early establishment of a healthy microbiota in birds may contribute to partially overcome both difficulties. Since the development of the undefined competitive exclusion culture of Nurmi and Rantala (1973) to the present, the development of bacterial supplements to poultry breeding has progressed remarkably. At present, international standards define the criteria to consider in developing new bacterial supplements. Indeed, the selection of harmless microorganisms, with special properties and known mode of action, is a requirement for the development of direct-fed microbials or probiotics capable to exert demonstrable beneficial effects for the animal. Moreover, the administration of probiotic supplements formulated with more than one microorganism, could contribute to overcome several difficulties of poultry breeding simultaneously if each microorganism posses a different specific property.In the last years we have explored the probiotic potential of the genus Propionibacterium and also the ability of lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria to contribute to poultry nutrition by removing antinutritional compounds from feeds. At present, we can affirm that the classical propionibacteria are present in the gut of adult birds; their ingestion during the first days of life of chicks is safe, contributes to early maturation of the intestinal epithelium, and promotes the production and secretion of mucus.The ability propionibacteria isolated from poultry to adhere to the epithelium and mucus and the production of short-chain fatty acid in the intestinal content were demonstrated by ex vivo and in vivo assays. These were useful properties to decrease Salmonella adhesion to the epithelium and proliferation. However, poultry diets contain residual amount of vegetable lectins, which are antinutritional factors. They limit body weight gain and turn the birds more susceptible to infections.Soybean lectin and wheat-germ agglutinin, even in very little amount, have proven to be toxic for intestinal epithelial cells obtained from chicks. Both lectins were efficiently removed in ex vivo assays by selected strains of lactobacilli, enterococci and bifidobacteria. Combinations of these strains and Propionibacterium acidipropionici of avian origin, promoted the maturation of the intestinal functions. The digestive enzymes reached their maximal activities at lower age of birds. Therefore, it is expected that using this mixed bacterial supplement in the farms will lead to fast growth of broilers.In conclusion, a proper combination of probiotic bacteria selected by different specific properties allows obtain multifunctional cultures, which may ensure health and efficient production in poultry fed with different compositions of cereals and seeds.