Cassava pulp contains a lot of starch, but low amounts of protein and high fiber content which limits its use as a feedstuff for broilers. However, fermentation of this pulp with Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) to improve its protein content may increase its usefulness in broiler diets. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to evaluate the potential use of fermented cassava pulp (FCP) in broilers. In experiment 1 the effects of FCP on nutrient digestibility and retention were studied. FCP was prepared using cassava pulp fermented with A. oryzae and urea for 4 days. Forty-nine fifteen-day old male chickens were placed in individual cages and assigned randomly to one of 7 dietary treatment groups (one control and six FCP: 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 and 240 g/kg) for 10 days. The results indicate that nutrient digestibility and retention decreased with increasing levels of FCP (P＞0.05), but the decrease was not significant at dietary levels below 160 g/kg. Experiment 2 studied the effect of FCP in broiler diets on growth performance, carcass quality and blood biochemistry. Two hundred and seventy one-day old male chicks were randomly distributed to 6 dietary groups (one control and five FCP: 40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 g/kg) for 42 days. The results show that FCP could be used as an energy source with inclusion levels up to 160 g/kg in broiler diets having no effect on growth performance, carcass composition, meat color or blood biochemistry (P＞0.05). Moreover, it was found that FCP had no detrimental effects on the aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) of broilers (P＞0.05). In conclusion, FCP can be used in broiler diets up to 160 g/kg without detrimental effects on nutrient digestibility and retention, growth performance, carcass quality or blood biochemistry.

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Free faecal water (FFW) in equines results in pollution of the hindquarters and tail and can also involve clinical signs. Though the cause of FFW is unknown, it was hypothesized that it may involve the gut microbiota. This hypothesis was addressed as follows. First, the faecal prokaryotic community composition of horses suffering from FFW relative to healthy controls (n = 10) was compared. Second, FFW horses were treated with a standardised faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) protocol (n = 10), followed by assessment of FFW symptom severity and faecal prokaryotic community composition over a follow-up period of 168 days. No significant differences were found in the faecal microbiota composition of FFW horses compared to healthy controls (p > 0.05). Relative to before FMT, FFW symptom severity decreased in affected horses 14 days after FMT (p = 0.02) and remained decreased for the remainder of the study (p < 0.02). However, individual animal responses to FMT varied. FMT had no effect on FFW horse faecal prokaryotic community composition in terms of alpha or beta diversity. Alpha diversity of the donor inocula used in the FMT was always lower than that of the faecal microbiota of the FFW treated horses (p < 0.001). In conclusion, whilst findings indicate FFW horses do not have an altered hindgut microbiota, some horses that received FMT had a temporary alleviation of FFW symptom severity without causing changes in the faecal microbiota. Future studies using controls are now needed to confirm the effectiveness of FMT to treat FFW.

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the potential use of dried cassava pulp (DCP) supplemented with enzymes as an alternative feed ingredient in laying hen diets. In experiment 1, 45 laying hens (Isa Brown) aged 45 weeks were placed in individual cages to measure nutrient digestibility for 10 days. Nine dietary treatments were control and DCP as a replacement for corn at 20, 25, 30, and 35% supplemented with mixed enzymes (cellulase, glucanase, and xylanase) at 0.10 and 0.15%. Results showed that the use of DCP at 20-35% added with mixed enzymes had no negative effects on dry matter digestibility, while organic matter digestibility and nitrogen retention decreased with increased DCP up to 30-35% in diets. Both enzyme levels (0.10 and 0.15%) showed similar results on nutrient digestibility and retention. In experiment 2, a total of 336 laying hens aged 32 weeks were randomly allocated to seven dietary treatments (control and DCP-substituted diets at 20, 25, and 30%) supplemented with mixed enzymes (0.10 and 0.15%). Diets incorporated with 20-30% of DCP and supplemented with mixed enzymes at both levels had no significant effects on egg production, egg weight, feed intake, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, or egg quality, except for egg yolk color being decreased with an increase of DCP in diets (P < 0.05). In conclusion, it is suggested that DCP supplemented with enzymes can be used as an energy source in laying hen diets up to 30% without showing negative effects on nutrient digestibility, productive performance, or egg quality.

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Objective: The present study was to investigate the extraction conditions of dietary fiber from dried cassava pulp (DCP) and cassava distiller's dried grains (CDG) under different NaOH concentrations, and the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) was used to determine the dietary fiber components. Methods:The dried samples (DCP and CDG) were treated with various concentrations of NaOH at levels of 2, 4, 6, and 8% using a completely randomized design with 4 replications of each. After extraction, the residual DCP and CDG dietary fiber were dried in a hot air oven at 55-60 ºC. Finally, the oven dried extracted dietary fiber was powdered to a particle size of 1 mm. Both extracted dietary fibers were analyzed for their chemical composition and determined by FTIR. Results:The DCP and CDG treated with NaOH linearly or quadratically or cubically (p<0.05) increased the total dietary fiber (TDF) and insoluble fiber (IDF). The optimal conditions for extracting dietary fiber from DCP and CDG were under treatment with 6% and 4% NaOH, respectively, as these conditions yielded the highest TDF and IDF contents. These results were associated with the FTIR spectra integration for a semi-quantitative analysis, which obtained the highest cellulose content in dietary fiber extracted from DCP and CDG with 6% and 4% NaOH solution, respectively. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) illustrated clear separation of spectral distribution in cassava pulp extracted dietary fiber (DFCP) and cassava distiller's dried grains extracted dietary fiber (DFCDG) when treated with 6% and 4% NaOH, respectively.

Over the last few decades, antibiotics have been widely used in animal production to enhance livestock growth and/or to prevent and treat disease (Bengtsson & Greko, 2014). At the same time, the global use of antibiotics has contributed to an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can be transmitted to human beings (Garcia et al., 2020). The rise of antibiotic resistance is a worldwide threat, with an estimated death rate of 700,000 deaths per year and a predicted 10,000,000 deaths by 2050 (Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, 2019). As a result, the use of antibiotics has been restricted in many countries, following a ban on use for animal growth promotion in Sweden in 1986 (Mingmongkolchai & Panbangred, 2018). Consequently, there is a growing interest in alternatives to antibiotics, including probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB; Hiruta, 2015). Labs are widely distributed in nature and have a long history of safe consumption as animal feed or human food. Recently, various species and strains of LAB have been recognized as probiotics, a term that refers to a "live microorganism[s] which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host" (Hill et al., 2014). Some species and strains even exert (in their dead form) health-promoting effects on the host, a phenomenon called paraprobiotics (Taverniti & Guglielmetti, 2011). When alive, probiotics can produce antimicrobial substances, adhere to the intestine, and compete with other bacteria, thereby inhibiting colonization by pathogenic bacteria and improving the intestinal environment. Probiotics also can modulate the immune responses and gastrointestinal