ABSTRACT:A study was conducted to study the effects of feeding a spray-dried metabolite (SDM) produced by Lb. plantarum I-UL4 in the diets of postweaning rats on growth performance, faecal pH, Enterobacteriaceae bacterial and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) counts in the faeces and on plasma cholesterol concentrations. A total of 15 female 4-weeks-old Sprague dawley rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups of diets: basal diet (control), 0.25% SDM and 0.5% SDM diets. Daily feed intake, daily growth rate, blood plasma for total cholesterol concentration and faecal Enterobacteriaceae and LAB were measured. The growth rate, total feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and pH were not significantly different (P > 0.05) among all the treatment groups. The faecal Enterobacteriaceae counts in the 0.25% and 0.5% groups were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than in the control group. However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the LAB counts among all the treatment groups. The plasma cholesterol concentration was significantly reduced (P < 0.05) following the feeding of the metabolite. The control had the highest concentration of cholesterol. However, the 0.5% SDM group had the lowest plasma cholesterol concentration, followed by the 0.25% SDM group.

Fermented products (FP), a mixed product of raw fish, sea weed, rice bran, sugar cane juice, were obtained in a process of fermentation using combination of cultures of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of diets with different levels of FP on performance, faecal pH, Enterobacteriaceae and LAB counts and their relationships, and plasma cholesterol concentration in rats. A total of 24 Sprague Dawley (10 weeks of age) female rats were assigned individually into three groups of 8 rats per treatment. The three dietary treatments were: 1. control diet (basal diet), 2. basal diet + 10% FP and 3. basal diet + 20% FP. The final liveweight, growth rate, total feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not significantly different for all the treatment groups. Addition of FP to the diets reduced the Enterobacteriaceae population in faeces of the rats and significantly (P<0.05) increased numbers of LAB as compared with control rats. The faecal pH in rats fed with FP was more acidic than in rats fed with basal diet. The correlation analyses between LAB counts and Enterobacteriaceae counts, LAB counts and faecal pH and Enterobacteriaceae counts and faecal pH, suggest that FP provides an acidic environment, which encourages the growth of LAB and then leads to the inhibition of Enterobacteriaceae growth. The plasma cholesterol concentrations for rats fed with FP were significantly lower than that of control rats.

The study investigated the effects of varying dietary calcium (Ca) levels and sources of oil on performance of broiler chickens. A total of 378 one-day-old birds were fed 6% palm oil (PO), soybean oil (SO) or linseed oil (LO) in combination with three levels of Ca, 1%, 1.25% and 1.5%, for six weeks in a 3 x 3 factorial experiment. Birds fed diet supplemented with SO and PO had higher average daily gains, more abdominal fat and greater villi height compared with those fed LO. However, feed efficiency, apparent digestibility of organic matter, ether extract, crude protein and ash were similar across treatments. Regardless of oil source, the chickens fed diets containing 1.5% Ca had a lower bodyweight and apparent digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, ether extract and phosphorus (P) than those fed 1% and 1.25% Ca. In contrast, the birds fed 1.25% Ca had higher ash, Ca and P digestibility than did the 1% Ca birds. Interaction between source of oil and Ca level on mineral digestibility was significant. It can be concluded that palm oil could be used as an alternative to soybean and linseed oils to improve growth performance in broiler chickens. Moreover, increasing the level of Ca to 1.25% can improve broiler performance and apparent nutrient digestibility, regardless of the type of oil used in the current study. ______________________________________________________________________________________

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding fermented product (FP) to layers on laying performance, faecal microflora and pH. A total of 96, 13-week-old Babcock B380 pullets were used in the study. They were randomly assigned to four numerically equal groups with eight replicates per treatment, three birds per replicate. All the birds were caged individually. The treatments consisted of Diet 1 (Control), without FP, Diet 2 (FP3) contained 3% (w/w) FP (30g FP/kg diet), Diet 3 (FP6) contained 6% (w/w) FP (60 g FP/kg diet) and Diet 4 (FP9) contained 9% (w/w) FP (90 g FP/kg diet). The study was conducted for 14 weeks with 2 weeks of acclimatization. Fresh faecal samples were collected fortnightly started from 15 weeks of age. The feed intake, egg production, feed conversion ratio (feed intake, g/egg mass, g), egg mass (egg x egg production/100) and egg weight were not affected by the addition of FP at any level in the diets. However, the egg weight for FP6 was significantly higher than FP9. The faeces samples were cultured for lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Enterobacteriaceae. The results obtained from this study showed that FP reduced (P<0.05) the faecal Enterobacteriaceae and pH value. Higher (P<0.05) counts of faecal LAB in layers fed with FP were observed. In conclusions, these results indicate that FP could be included up to 6% in the diets of layers contributed to heavier egg weight and shifting the microflora composition of the layers' gastrointestinal tract toward a beneficial balance.

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