The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of humic acids (HA) on intestinal viscosity, leaky gut and ammonia excretion in a 24 hr feed restriction (FR) model to induce intestinal permeability in chickens. One-day-old male Cobb-Vantress broilers were randomly allocated to one of two groups (n = 25 chickens), with or without 0.2% of isolated HA from worm-compost, and placed in brooder batteries. Chicks had ad libitum access to water and feed for 14 days. Intestinal permeability was induced by 24 hr FR starting at 14 days. At 15 days of age, chickens in both groups were given an appropriate dose of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d) by oral gavage. Intestine and liver samples were also collected to evaluate viscosity and bacterial translocation (BT), respectively. An increase (p < .05) in intestinal viscosity was observed in the experimental group consuming 0.2% of HA and was confirmed in a published in vitro digestion model that simulates the chemical and physical conditions of the crop, proventriculus and intestine of chickens. Furthermore, the treated group also showed a significant reduction in FITC-d, liver BT and ammonia in the manure. These results suggest that HA have a positive impact in intestinal integrity in chickens.

Enteritidis, were carried out. In experiment 2, one-day old male broiler chickens were randomly allocate to one of two groups (n=25) with or without 0.2% of isolated HA from worm-composte, and challenged with 10 6 CFU of S. Enteritidis per chicken at 10-d old. All chicks were euthanized 24-h hours post challenge, and were for serum fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FITC-d) determination. A section of ileum was removed to obtain total concentration of IgA.Ceca-cecal tonsils were removed to evaluate Salmonella recovery, total lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and total Gram negative bacteria. In experiment 1, neither concentration of commercial or natural HA were able to reduce the recovery of S. Enteritidis in any of the simulated compartments (P>0.05). Only the crop compartment showed significant differences in pH in both trials between control and treated groups. In experiment 2, no significant differences were

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Vermicompost was used for humic acid (HA) preparation, and the adsorption of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) was investigated. Two forms of HA were evaluated, natural HA and sodium-free HA (SFHA). As a reference, a non-commercial zeolitic material was employed. The adsorbents were characterized by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), zeta potential (ζ-potential), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and point of zero charge (pHpzc). The adsorbent capacity of the materials when added to an AFB1-contaminated diet (100 µg AFB1/kg) was evaluated using an in vitro model that simulates the digestive tract of chickens. Characterization results revealed the primary functional groups in HA and SFHA were carboxyl and phenol. Furthermore, adsorbents have a highly negative ζ-potential at the three simulated pH values. Therefore, it appears the main influencing factors for AFB1 adsorption are electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the bioavailability of AFB1 in the intestinal section was dramatically decreased when sorbents were added to the diet (0.2%, w/w). The highest AFB1 adsorption percentages using HA and SFHA were 97.6% and 99.7%, respectively. The zeolitic material had a considerable adsorption (81.5%). From these results, it can be concluded that HA and SFHA from vermicompost could be used as potential adsorbents to remove AFB1 from contaminated feeds.