Effect of supplementation of natural and commercial probiotics on the productive performance of growing guinea pigs

Abstract

The effect of supplementation of natural and commercial probiotics on the productive performance of growing guinea pigs was evaluated. 48-weaned male guinea pigs from the Peru breed were used. Weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion,and carcass yield were determined. A completely randomized design with four treatments, six repetitions per treatment and two animals per repetition was used. The treatments were T1: Control Diet (CD); T2: CD + Natural Probiotic (NP) (2 ml); T3: CD + Commercial Probiotic(CP) (2 ml) and T4: CD + NP (1 ml) + CP (1 ml). The NP contained: Bacillus pumilus,Lactobacillusfrumenti, Streptococcus thoraltensis, Lactobacillus johnsoni, and the CP: Lactobacilus rihamnosusand Enterococci faecium. Nosignificant differences (p > 0,05) were found in the determined parameters; however, there were trendstowardhigher feed intakeand higherweight gain in guinea pigs of T3, better feed conversion in T4,and the highest carcass performance (p < 0,05) was presented in T2. The supplementation with CP tends to improve the productive performance of growing guinea pigs, with the exception of the carcass performance that improves with the supplementation of the NP.These results will serve as the basis for the use of probiotics in commercial guinea pig farms.

Effect of Agroindustrial Waste Substrate Fermented with Lactic Acid Bacteria and Yeast on Changes in the Gut Microbiota of Guinea Pigs

“…However, Aristides [ 12 ] did not observe any significant variation in weight gain when commercial probiotics were included in broiler feeds. However, pigs fed probiotics containing different Lactobacillus species showed an improvement in daily weight gain and, at the same time, a reduction in the incidence of diarrhea compared to the control group [ 9 , 15 , 36 ].…”

“…Probiotics reduce the symptoms of lactose maldigestion [ 40 ]. It is known that probiotics can reduce the symptoms of malabsorption in animals [ 9 , 11 , 14 , 39 ]. This effect is due, on the one hand, to the fact that the probiotic microorganisms (bacteria and yeasts) contained in these products have mechanisms of action such as participation in immune processes [ 17 , 41 ].…”

“…These microbial additives have beneficial properties for animal health and their main action on the host is to improve weight gain, increase feed conversion and modify the intestinal flora [ 6 , 7 ]. They also help to make the animal more resistant to disease and reduce the use of antibiotic growth promoters, so it is important to include them in the diet of monogastric or ruminant animals [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…Recent studies provide encouraging data on the inclusion of diets with beneficial microorganisms having the ability to balance the microbiota in the different segments of the gastrointestinal tract, which has attracted much attention from researchers [ 2 ]. However, scientific information on the positive effect of beneficial microorganisms and the mechanism of action is still insufficient [ 9 , 13 ].…”

“…While it is true that studies related to the composition and possible changes in the gut microbiota of animals when probiotics are used, by means of biochemical tests, nowadays offer an approximation to their distribution and abundance, until recently it was almost completely unknown what changes can be generated in the natural microbiota of the host’s digestive tract [ 5 , 9 , 12 ].…”