Effect of Trichoderma reesei Degraded Date Pits on Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Biochemical Responses of Broiler Chickens

Abstract

The long-term use of antimicrobials as growth promoters in poultry feed leads to antimicrobial resistance in pathogens. Thus, alternatives to antibiotics are essential for reasons associated with both safety and cost-effectiveness. Underutilized plant sources need to be developed to replace antibiotics in broiler feed. Several feed resources have been introduced so far, but they have yet to be applied widely. Date pits are a major by-product of the date industry (6-8%) and have the potential antioxidant to replace antibiotics. In this study, fresh date pits were degraded using the mold Trichoderma reesei under solid-state degradation (SSD), resulting in degraded date pits (DDP). A total of 180 Brazilian "Cobb 500" broiler chicks were divided into six feed treatments in triplicate groups. The treatments were corn-soy basal diet (positive control; C+), corn-soy + 20% oxytetracycline at 0.05% (negative control; C-), corn-soy + 10% DDP, corn-soy + 0.2% mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS), corn-soy + 0.1% mannose, and corn-soy + 0.2% mannose. The antioxidant and biochemical effects of DDP, MOS, and mannose were determined in the blood serum, liver, and intestine of broilers at age 21 and 42 days. The results indicated that the contents of antioxidants such as flavonoids and phenolics, as well as the MOS content in DDP, were increased by the degradation process. Additionally, mannose, glucose, arabinose, rhamnose, and glucuronic acid were significantly increased in DDP after degradation. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (GPx-glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and SOD-superoxide dismutase) in the serum, liver, and intestine of broilers fed with diets containing 10% DDP and 0.2% MOS was increased significantly compared to the control group. Malondialdehyde activity was decreased, whereas the mean corpuscular hemoglobin level and the iron content were significantly upregulated in the broilers fed with 10% DDP, 0.1% mannose, and 0.2% MOS diets compared with the control. Thus, DDP can be used to improve the antioxidant status and has a prebiotic-like effect in broiler chicken performance.

Dietary encapsulated Bifidobacterium animalis and Agave fructans improve growth performance, health parameters, and immune response in broiler chickens

“…Further, the supplementation with 0.2% mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) in a broiler significantly increased the weight of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum at 42 days, while the group that was administered with oxytetracycline showed a decrease in weight in the jejunum. In the same study, the length of the duodenum increased significantly in chickens fed MOS, and a decrease in length was shown for the group fed with antibiotics [ 21 ]. These results coincide with those demonstrated in the present study, where greater weights and lengths of the GIT of the birds of the PRE group were found, compared to the diet with antibiotics.…”

Applications of date pits in foods to enhance their functionality and quality: A review

“…The functionality of date pit powder as a food ingredient has been examined in its raw form, and in the form of microbially digested date pits, defatted date pits, or extracted protein (Al-Farsi and Lee, 2011;Akasha et al, 2016;Alyileili et al, 2020b). Date pits have been used in synthesis of a nanoparticle powder via hydrolysis with acid followed by ultrasound-assisted extraction, combined with the use of waterbased and methanol-based solvents.…”

Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) by-Products: Chemical Composition, Nutritive Value and Applications in Poultry Nutrition, an Updating Review

“…Recently, there have been trends to utilize the phytochemical properties of industrial fruit or herbs wastes in animal feeding, which will not only reduce environmental burdens, but also improve animal production and health [ 47 , 48 ]. Similarly, phytochemical or nutraceutical prosperities of date pit or waste have been explored or attempts have been made to improve them using solid state degradation by Trichoderma reesei L. and their utilization in animal feeds [ 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ]. Alyileili et al [ 49 ] reported that solid state degradation of date pit with T. reesei enhanced mannan oligosaccharide content, phenolic (142 g gallic equivalent/kg) and flavonoid (117 g rutin equivalent/kg) content of degraded date pits and antioxidant activities.…”

“…Therefore, extra-nutritional effects of T. reesei -mediated solid state degraded date pit were explored in poultry [ 56 , 57 ]. The inclusion of 10% degraded date pits (phenolics, flavonoids and mannan–oligosaccharide) in the diets of broiler chickens increased catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in the serum, liver, and intestine, and decreased malondialdehyde content compared to the control group [ 50 ]. It also increased pancreatic enzyme activities, the villus length, and the villus/crypt ratio, and decreased the crypt depth of the intestine [ 51 ].…”