Antibiotics, often supplemented in feed, used as a growth promoter, may cause their residual effect in animal produce and also trigger antibiotic resistance in bacteria, which is of serious concern among swine farming entrepreneurs. As an alternative, supplementing probiotics gained interest in recent years. Lactobacillus being the most commonly used probiotic agent improves growth performance, feed conversion efficiency, nutrient utilization, intestinal microbiota, gut health and regulates immune system in pigs. The characteristics of Lactobacillus spp. and their probiotic effects in swine production are reviewed here under.

The present study was aimed to develop an effective probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from piglet feces and in vitro characterization of probiotic properties. To confirm host-species specificity of probiotics, the efficacy of isolated LAB on growth, nutrient utilization, health and antioxidant status was observed in early weaned piglets. A total of 30 LAB were isolated from feces of five healthy piglets (28d old). All isolates were Gram positive, cocco-bacilli and catalase negative. Out of thirty LAB isolates, twenty were shortlisted on the basis of their tolerance to pH (3.0, 4.0, 7.0 and 8.0) and bile salts (0.075, 0.15, 0.3 and 1.0%). Whereas, fourteen isolates were selected for further in vitro probiotic characterization due higher (P<0.05) cell surface hydrophobicity to toluene (>45 percent). These isolates fermented twenty-seven different carbohydrates but were negative for ONPG, citrate and malonate. Also enabled to synthesize amylase, protease, lipase and phytase. They were sensitive to penicillin, azithromycin, lincomycin, clindamycin, erythromycin, cephalothin and chloramphenicol and resistant to ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, gatifloxacin, vancomycin and co-trimoxazole. Except three isolates, all showed antagonistic activity (>60% co-culture activity) against Escherichia coli, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella serotype (ser.) Typhimurium, Staphylococcus intermedius, Staph. chromogenes, Proteus mirabillis, Areomonas veonii, Bordetella bronchioseptica and Klebsialla oxytoca. The isolate Lacp28 exhibited highest tolerance to acidic pH and bile salts (up to 0.3%), phytase activity, cell surface hydrophobicity, antagonistic activity and co-culture assay (>80% growth inhibition). Host specificity of Lacp28 was further confirmed by heavy in vitro adhesion to pig intestinal epithelium cells compared to chicken. Hence, Lacp28 was selected and identified by phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA as Pediococcus acidilactici strain FT28 with 100% similarity (GenBank accession nos. KU837245, KU837246 and KU837247). The Pediococcus acidilactici FT28 was selected as potential probiotic candidature for in vivo efficacy in weaned pigs. Thirty-six crossbred piglets (28d) were randomly distributed into three groups (four replicates of three each) namely, basal diet without probiotics (T0) or with Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC15 (conventional dairy-specific probiotic; T1) or Pediococcus acidilactici FT28 (swine-specific probiotic; T2). At end of the experiment, six piglets of similar body weight were selected to conduct digestion trial for estimation of nutrient digestibility. Results of the study indicated that supplementation of both probiotics improved (P<0.001) FCR compared to control without significant effect in average daily gain and DM intake. However, the apparent digestibility of crude protein and ether extract was better (P<0.01) in pigs fed P. acidilactici FT28 compared control and L. acidophilus fed groups. The total WBC and RBC count, serum glucose, total protein, albumin and globulin concentration was higher (P<...

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Aim:The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of swine-origin probiotic Pediococcus acidilactici FT28 on growth, nutrient utilization, health status, meat quality and intestinal morphology in growing female pigs.Materials and Methods:Pigs (n=27) were distributed into three groups (3 replicates of 3 each) and supplemented with basal diet either without probiotics (C) or with a probiotic of dairy-based (Lactobacillus acidophilus NCDC-15; TLact) or swine based (P. acidilactici FT28; TPedic). The probiotics were fed as fermented feed at 200 g/pig/day. At the end of the trial, six pigs from each group were selected for metabolism trial and then sacrificed to determine meat quality and intestinal morphology.Results:Supplementation of both probiotics improved growth performance, whereas feed intake, digestibility of CP and N retention were better (p<0.05) in P. acidilactici FT28-fed group. However , the digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), ether extracts (EE), crude fiber and nitrogen free extract did not show any significant effect on probiotic supplementation. The serum A: G ratio, triglyceride, and cholesterol level were also improved (p<0.05) in TPedic group compared to other treatment groups. Both probiotic supplementations showed lower (p<0.05) serum glucose level with similar protein and albumin value, which indicated good utilization of feed as well as health status of growing pigs. Dressing percentage, vital organ weight, and EE of loin meat were higher (p<0.05) in probiotic-supplemented groups compared to control. However, P. acidilactici FT28-fed animals showed higher (p<0.05) CP and total ash percentage of meat without affecting pH, water holding capacity, and extract release volume of loin muscle. The villi height and crypt depth were better in both supplemented groups compared to control.Conclusion:Results of the present study revealed that P. acidilactici FT28 could serve as better probiotic source in swine production for the better utilization of CP and N-retention in meat with improved health status and intestinal morphology.

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The present study was investigated to determine the optimum energy and protein requirement for growth performance and nutrient digestibility of white plumage Japanese quail during starter (1 to 3 week) and finisher (4 to 5 week) phases.: Japanese quails were fed with nine diets consisting of three levels of energy (2600, 2800 and 3000; 2800, 2900 and 3000 Kcal ME/kg) and protein (23, 25 and 27;18, 20 and 22% CP) during starter and finisher phases, respectively, in 3×3 factorial design.Protein and energy individually had no influence on final body weight (FBW) and weight gain, while feed efficiency was significantly (P 0.05) increased. The protein × energy interaction had significant (P 0.05) effect on growth and nutrient utilization during both starter and finisher phases.The growth performance was higher (P 0.05) in quails fed on high protein-high energy (HP-HE) combination (27% CP and 3000 Kcal ME/kg) and medium protein-high energy (MP-HE) combination (20% CP and 3000 Kcal ME/kg) during starter and finisher phase, respectively in autumn season. The diet with 20% CP and 3000 Kcal ME/kg significantly (P 0.05) increased nutrients digestibility and major minerals (Ca& P

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