ABSTRACT:A study was conducted to study the effects of feeding a spray-dried metabolite (SDM) produced by Lb. plantarum I-UL4 in the diets of postweaning rats on growth performance, faecal pH, Enterobacteriaceae bacterial and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in the faeces and on plasma cholesterol concentrations. A total of 15 female 4-weeks-old Sprague dawley rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups of diets: basal diet (control), 0.25% SDM and 0.5% SDM diets. Daily feed intake, daily growth rate, blood plasma for total cholesterol concentration and faecal Enterobacteriaceae and LAB were measured. The growth rate, total feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and pH were not significantly different (P > 0.05) among all the treatment groups. The faecal Enterobacteriaceae counts in the 0.25% and 0.5% groups were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in the control group. However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the LAB counts among all the treatment groups. The plasma cholesterol concentration was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) following the feeding of the metabolite. The control had the highest concentration of cholesterol. However, the 0.5% SDM group had the lowest plasma cholesterol concentration, followed by the 0.25% SDM group.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding fermented product (FP) to layers on laying performance, faecal microflora and pH. A total of 96, 13-week-old Babcock B380 pullets were used in the study. They were randomly assigned to four numerically equal groups with eight replicates per treatment, three birds per replicate. All the birds were caged individually. The treatments consisted of Diet 1 (Control), without FP, Diet 2 (FP3) contained 3% (w/w) FP (30g FP/kg diet), Diet 3 (FP6) contained 6% (w/w) FP (60 g FP/kg diet) and Diet 4 (FP9) contained 9% (w/w) FP (90 g FP/kg diet). The study was conducted for 14 weeks with 2 weeks of acclimatization. Fresh faecal samples were collected fortnightly started from 15 weeks of age. The feed intake, egg production, feed conversion ratio (feed intake, g/egg mass, g), egg mass (egg x egg production/100) and egg weight were not affected by the addition of FP at any level in the diets. However, the egg weight for FP6 was significantly higher than FP9. The faeces samples were cultured for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Enterobacteriaceae. The results obtained from this study showed that FP reduced (P<0.05) the faecal Enterobacteriaceae and pH value. Higher (P<0.05) counts of faecal LAB in layers fed with FP were observed. In conclusions, these results indicate that FP could be included up to 6% in the diets of layers contributed to heavier egg weight and shifting the microflora composition of the layers' gastrointestinal tract toward a beneficial balance.

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This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding fermented fish (FF) to layers on laying performance, and polyunsaturated fatty acid and cholesterol levels in eggs and plasma. A total of 96, 13-week-old Babcock B380 pullets were used in this study. They were randomly assigned to four numerically equal groups with eight replicates per treatment, three birds per replicate. All the birds were housed in individual cages. The dietary treatments were: Control diet, without FF; FF3 diet containing 3% (w/w) FF, FF6 diet containing 6% (w/w) FF and FF9 diet containing 9% (w/w) FF. The study was carried out for 16 weeks inclusive of two weeks of adjustment. Weekly feed intake and egg production were recorded. Blood plasma cholesterol and fatty acid profiles were assayed at the end of the experiment. FF did not enhance (P > 0.05) egg mass but (P < 0.05) decreased egg weight slightly. However, egg yolk cholesterol and plasma cholesterol concentrations were reduced (P < 0.05) by FF. The n-6:n-3 fatty acids ratio in the egg yolk (Control = 7.9, FF9 = 6.2) and plasma (Control = 10.6, FF9 = 6.2) were decreased by feeding FF. Moreover, FF was able to increase (P < 0.05) the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations in egg yolk and plasma. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that FF increased DHA and reduced egg yolk cholesterol in poultry eggs.

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