Assessment of Feed Value of Chicory and Lucerne for Poultry, Determination of Bioaccessibility of Their Polyphenols and Their Effects on Caecal Microbiota

Abstract

Chicory and lucerne possess high feed value for poultry being good sources of protein and fiber. In addition, they are rich in polyphenols that help the body build an integrated antioxidant system to prevent damage from free radicals and positively modulate microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tract. These health-promoting effects of polyphenols depend on their bioaccessibility and absorption in the animal body. The present paper aimed to study the bioaccessibility of polyphenols from chicory and lucerne after subjecting the samples to gastric and intestinal phases of digestion in an in vitro model of chicken gut and assessment of their feed value by measuring the presence of fermentable substrates (in terms of gas production), SCFAs produced and their effects on gut microbiota population during in vitro cecal fermentation. Results revealed that the bioaccessibility of polyphenols varied with different polyphenol compounds. The highest bioaccessibility was recorded for p-hydroxybenzoic acid (90.8%) from chicory following the intestinal phase of digestion. The lowest bioaccessibility was observed for quercetin-3-rhamnoside (12.6%) from chicory after the gastric phase of digestion. From lucerne, the highest bioaccessibility was recorded for kaempferol-3-glucoside (77.5%) after the intestinal phase of digestion. Total gas production was higher for lucerne (39.9 mL/g) than chicory (28.1 mL/g). Similarly, total SCFAs production was higher after 24 h of cecal fermentation with lucerne (42.2 mmol L−1) as compared to chicory (38.1 mmol L−1). Results also revealed that the relative abundance of Clostridium was reduced with chicory (0.225%) and lucerne (0.176%) as compared to the control (0.550%) after 24 h of cecal fermentation. The relative abundance of Streptococcus was reduced by lucerne (4.845%) but was increased with chicory (17.267%) as compared to the control (5.204%) after 24 h of fermentation. These findings indicated that chicory and lucerne differentially affected the microbial populations during in vitro cecal fermentation.

Comparative Analysis of Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa L.) Fruit, Leaves, and Pomace for Their Phytochemical Composition, Antioxidant Potential, and Polyphenol Bioaccessibility

“…The bioaccessibility of individual polyphenol compounds was determined by subjecting the samples to various stages of gastrointestinal digestion. The equation used to carry out this calculation is based on the research of Iqbal et al [ 32 ]: % Bioaccessibility = concentration of polyphenol at each phase of digestion/concentration of polyphenol in the supernatant before digestion × 100 …”

Growth performance, carcass quality and sensory evaluation of meat produced from broilers fed Lucerne (Medicago sativa) based diets

“…It is widely used as an animal forage, providing a signi cant source of vitamins, minerals, energy and bre especially for ruminant animals (Yildiz et al, 2020; Coburn et al, 2021;Pliego et al, 2022). However, the protein and nutrients have limited accessibility by monogastric animals mainly because it has a high bre content which makes the legume less readily digestible (Tufarelli et al, 2018;Nguyen et al, 2022;Iqbal et al, 2022;Suwignyo et al,2023). Pliego et al (2022) recently reviewed the potential bene cial effects of using lucerne as a feed supplement in poultry feeds and highlighted potential improvements in yolk colour, decreased abdominal fat deposition in broilers, increased immunity, improved liver and gut function as well as improving cumulative feed intake.…”