Replacement of Soybean Meal with Lupin or Chickpea Seed Meal in Diets for Fattening Iberian Pigs Promotes a Healthier Ileal Microbiota Composition

Abstract

Five castrated male Iberian pigs (100 ± 2 kg b.w.) fitted with T-shaped ileal cannulas at the terminal ileum were used to determine the effects of legume feeding on intestinal microbiota composition. The diets were based on defatted soybean (Glycine max), lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) or chickpea (Cicer arietinum) seed meals and contained similar amounts of digestible energy (14.2 -15.1 MJ·kg −1 ) and protein (107 g·kg −1 ). A hydrolyzed casein diet was used to determine the bacterial counts in pigs fed on a vegetable-free diet. The composition of the intestinal microbiota at the terminal ileum was analysed by q-PCR. Higher (P < 0.05) lactobacilli log 10 number of copies was determined in the ileal contents of pigs fed on lupin-or chickpea-based diets with respect to those fed on the soybean-based diet. Bacteroides and the Clostridium coccoides/Eubacterium rectale group log 10 number of copies was lower (P < 0.01) than that of soybean in the ileal contents of chickpea-fed pigs. Enterobacteria and the Escherichia/Shigella group log 10 number of copies was lower (P < 0.01) than that of soybean in pigs fed on diets based on lupin or chickpea. The number of copies of the different bacterial groups in animals fed on the casein-based diet was lower (P < 0.01) than that of soybean for lactobacilli and bacteroides, but was higher than that of soybean for bifidobacteria, enterobacteria and the Escherichia/Shigella group. This information suggests that lupin or chickpea feeding might induce a benefit in the microbiota composition of Iberian pigs in their final productive stages.

Inclusion of limited amounts of extruded legumes plus cereal mixes in normocaloric or obesogenic diets for rats: effects on intestinal microbiota composition

“…Although there were no significant differences, either for enterobacteria or for the Escherichia / Shigella subgroup, between the different obesogenic and non-obesogenic treatments, there was a significant and consistent decrease respect to casein controls of both groups in the intestinal contents of rats consuming the extruded mixes (Tables 1 and 2). Drops in the intestinal enterobacteria counts have been also reported earlier in rats 53 and pigs 54 fed legume-containing diets. Enterobacteria are among the gram-negative groups present within the intestine whose overgrowth is a characteristic trait of an abnormal microbiota such as in the course of antibiotic therapy, certain dietary changes or inflammation.…”

Dietary Milk or Isolated Legume Proteins Modulate Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Rats

“…Piglets with highly digestible casein-based diets have been shown to present a higher count of Enterobacteriaceae than piglets fed on less digestible soybean meal-based diets [ 30 ]. This is in agreement with previous work by our group [ 31 ], where the number of copies in animals fed a casein-based diet was lower than soybean for Lactobacilli and Bacteroides , but was higher than soybean for Bifidobacteria, Enterobacteria and the Escherichia/Shigella group. However, since pure proteins were not used in diet formulation in these and most other reports, the main difficulty in ascribing these effects to the protein component of the diets mainly lies in the fact that they also differed in the carbohydrate fraction.…”

Nutritional Potentials of Atypical Feed Ingredients for Broiler Chickens and Pigs

“…Inclusion of CKP in diets of weaned pigs at 30% reduced growth, feed efficiency, and protein digestibility, but did not impact feed intake and energy digestibility [ 16 ]. Similarly, inclusion of CKP in diets of finishing pigs did not hinder growth performance or protein digestibility [ 16 , 86 ], but improved fatty acid and carbohydrate digestibility while promoting a healthier ileal microbiota composition [ 87 , 88 ]. Replacement of SBM with CKP in diets of broiler chickens up to 12% did not affect performance and carcass qualities [ 39 , 89 ], but had negative impacts at 24% inclusion level [ 84 ].…”