Feed Supplementation with Encapsulated Indigenous Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria Increased Broiler Chicken Performance

Abstract

The oral application of probiotics in the poultry industry is time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, using a powdered probiotic supplement that can easily mix with feed is important. We investigated the effect of spray drying encapsulation on the viability of indigenous probiotic lactic acid bacteria during production and storage and evaluated broiler chicken performance after providing the supplement. Encapsulated probiotics exhibited >80% survival rates after spray drying. All bacterial species maintained up to 80% cell viability rates after exposure to 80-85°C temperatures for 15 or 30 s. The viable cell number of all encapsulated bacteria decreased over seven weeks of storage. The supplement was mixed with feed at concentrations 0.5 (T1), 1.0 (T2), and 1.5 (T3) g/kg feed and administered to 48 one-day-old Lohmann broiler chickens for 21 days; a T0 group was raised without probiotic supplementation. Probiotic supplementation affected body weight gain, live weight, and feed conversion ratio. The cecum length and duodenum and cecum weights significantly differed among the treatment groups. Probiotic supplementation was associated with improved villus development in the intestinal epithelium compared with that of the control. Thus, feed supplementation with indigenous probiotic powder stimulates intestinal epithelial proliferation in broiler chickens during the starter phase, improving their performance.

Evaluation of Non-Encapsulated and Microencapsulated Lactic Acid Bacteria

“…In the first month, both powders of L. salivarius (IBNA 33 and IBNA 41) registered constant survivability (Figure 2), and exhibited a growth rate of up to 75% during the first to 21 days, followed by decreases after Probiotic choice based on in vitro tests involves a representative selection for the application of the encapsulation process. After spray drying, the powders stability of strains (L. salivarius IBNA 33, L. salivarius IBNA 41, and L. acidophilus IBNA 64) was monitored at 0, 7,14,21,27,35,42,49,56, and 62 days. During storage, the cell viability of all encapsulated Lactobacillus strains weakly decreased.…”

“…Probiotics are used in both animal and human nutrition as they provide a natural, safe, and effective barrier against pathogens [3][4][5]. The most common microorganisms used as probiotics are Gram-positive bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Lactococcus, Pediococcus, Enterococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Bacillus [6,7].…”

“…Microencapsulation is a technique with the ability to protect sensitive microorganisms such as LAB strains against loss of cell viability during GIT passage, through entrapment within a matrix of biopolymeric material [11,15]. As protection from external damaging factors, in microencapsulation, the semipermeable membrane that surrounds the liquid core is required to preserve cell viability during processing and storage [7,16].…”