Effect of benzoic acid on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance, gastrointestinal microflora and parameters of microbial metabolism in piglets

Abstract

In order to investigate the effects of benzoic acid on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, nitrogen balance and gastrointestinal microflora of piglets, we conducted a performance experiment and a separate balance study. The performance experiment involved four different dietary treatments: (1) basal diet (negative control); (2) basal diet supplemented with benzoic acid at 5 g/kg; (3) basal diet supplemented with benzoic acid at 10 g/kg; (4) basal diet supplemented with potassium diformate at 12 g/kg. Each dietary treatment was assigned to nine replicate groups, each consisting of two piglets. Live weight, daily weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were monitored as performance parameters over a 35-day period. Supplementation of the diet with benzoic acid resulted in a dose-dependent increase in feed intake and body weight gain and an improved feed conversion ratio. Piglets fed the diet supplemented with benzoic acid at 10 g/kg outperformed the control piglets in mean feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio by 9%, 15% and 6% respectively. Growth performance of the piglets fed the diet with benzoic acid at 10 g/kg was similar to that of piglets fed the diet supplemented with potassium diformate. In the balance experiment three groups of six piglets each were fed either a control diet or diets supplemented with benzoic acid at 5 or 10 g/kg respectively. Benzoic acid did not significantly affect nutrient digestibility but increased nitrogen retention. Piglets fed the diets supplemented with benzoic acid at 5 or 10 g/kg retained 5% and 6% more nitrogen, respectively, than control piglets. Supplementation of benzoic acid did not influence the pH value or the concentration of ammonia in the gastrointestinal tract but reduced the number of bacteria in the digesta. In the stomach the number of total aerobic, total anaerobic, lactic acid forming and gram-negative bacteria was reduced; in the duodenum the presence of benzoic acid reduced the number of gram-negative bacteria and in the ileum the number of total aerobic bacteria in a dose-dependent manner. Benzoic acid also considerably reduced the concentration of acetic acid in the duodenum. In conclusion, the data of this study suggest that benzoic acid exerts strong antimicrobial effects in the gastrointestinal tract of piglets and therefore enhances growth performance and nitrogen retention.

Effects of benzoic acid, essential oils andEnterococcus faeciumSF68 on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles, faecal microbiota and faecal noxious gas emission in weanling pigs

“…Previous studies have confirmed that inclusion of 0.5-1.0% BA could improve growth performance (Kluge et al 2006;Torrallardona et al 2007) and protein digestibility (Guggenbuhl et al 2007) in weanling pigs.…”

“…Therefore, no control groups were included to evaluate the beneficial effects of BA, EO and E. faecium. Previous studies have established the positive effects of BA on growth performance and nutrient digestibility (Kluge et al 2006;Torrallardona et al 2007) in weaned piglets. In agreement with their results, we found that 0.5% BA plus EO increased ADG and G/F from d 8 to 21 and during the overall period.…”

Effect of benzoic acid and combination of benzoic acid with a probiotic containing Bacillus Cereus var. toyoi in weaned pig nutrition

“…This study also suggests that the inclusion of 5000 ppm benzoic acid in weaners' feed had beneficial effects on growth performance compared to control group, as shown by the decrease of diarrhoea score, (though there was not a significant influence on total piglets' morbidity), the decrease of faecal E. coli counts and the increase of BW and ADG, without any influence on FCR. Previous studies (Maribo et al 2000, Kluge et al 2006, Øverland et al 2007 indicated that benzoic acid causes a marked reduction of the density and activity of gastro-intestinal bacteria as well as a strong bactericidal effect on both coliform and lactic acid bacteria in the swine stomach content and in the digesta from the small intestine. The reduction of diarrhoea in BA group in the present study could be attributed to the reduction of the presence and activity of E. coli and the establishment of a proper balance between beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms in the intestine.…”

“…The use of benzoic acid in pig feed resulted in multiple beneficial effects on growth performance of pigs (Maribo et al 2000, Kluge et al 2006, Torrallardona et al 2007, Bü hler et al 2009) and displayed an important antibacterial activity in gastrointestinal microbial control, especially against coliforms (Knarreborg et al 2002, Kluge et al 2006, Piva and Grilli 2007, Øverland et al 2007). Such antimicrobial activity may be of interest to reduce diarrhoea incidence of piglets after weaning (Gheler et al 2009).…”

Dietary short-chain organic acids enhanced resistance to bacterial infection and hepatopancreatic structural integrity of the giant freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii

“…A promising alternative to antibiotics are organic acids, which include short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which are ''generally regarded as safe'' compounds with one or more carboxyl groups and less than six carbons in their molecular formula. These have been used for many decades in the terrestrial animal feed industry as an antimicrobial and growth promoter (Thompson and Hinton 1997;Kluge et al 2006). In more recent years, organic acids such as lactic, formic, citric and propionic acids and their associated salts have been the focus of research for use in aquatic animal feeds Koh 2011, 2016;Sukor et al 2016).…”