Influence of microbial probiotics on ruminant health and nutrition: sources, mode of action and implications

Abstract

Globally, ruminant production contributes immensely to the supply of the highest quality and quantity of proteins for human consumption, sustenance of livelihoods, and attainment of food security. Nevertheless, the phasing out of antibiotics in animal production has posed a myriad of challenges, including poor growth, performance and nutrient utilization, pathogen colonization, dysbiosis, and food safety issues in ruminants. Probiotics (direct‐fed microbials), comprising live microbial strains that confer health and nutritional benefits to the host when administered in appropriate quantities, are emerging as a viable, safe, natural and sustainable alternative to antibiotics. Although the mechanisms of action exerted by probiotics on ruminants are not well elucidated, dietary probiotic dosage to ruminants enhances development and maturation, growth and performance, milk production and composition, nutrient digestibility, feed efficiency, pathogen reduction, and mitigation of gastrointestinal diseases. However, the beneficial response to probiotic supplementation in ruminants is not consistent, being dependent on the microbial strain selected, combination of strains, dose, time and frequency of supplementation, diet, animal breed, physiological stage, husbandry practice, and farm management. Nonetheless, several studies have recently reported beneficial effects of probiotics on ruminant performance, health and production. This review conclusively re‐iterates the need for probiotics inclusion for the sustainability of ruminant production. Considering the role that ruminants play in food production and employment, global acceptance of sustainable ruminant production through supplementation with probiotics will undoubtedly ensure food security and food safety for the world. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

A newly developed strain of Enterococcus faecium isolated from fresh dairy products to be used as a probiotic in lactating Holstein cows

“…Animal nested within treatment was considered the random effect, while treatment was the fixed effect. Two covariance structures were considered in the REPEATED statement in PROC MIXED: compound symmetry (cs) and auto-regressive [AR (1)]. The error structure, with the lowest Akaike information criteria, that fits the statistics was selected for the model.…”

“…In livestock, different bacterial and fungal species (i.e., Bacillus, Bifidobacterium, Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Propionibacterium, Megasphaera elsdenii and Prevotella bryantii ) have been used as probiotics as well as strains of Aspergillus and Saccharomyces ( 1 , 6 ). Strains of LAB including Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus are commonly used as probiotics in ruminant feed ( 1 , 7 ). LAB can alter ruminal fermentation and enhance nutrient digestibility and productive performance ( 8 ).…”

“…A newly developed strain of Enterococcus faecium isolated from fresh dairy products to be used as a probiotic in lactating Holstein cows Introduction Probiotics and prebiotics have been administered to animals for several years to enhance their health and production. In animal production, probiotics are now widely accepted as safe and sustainable alternatives to antibiotics (1,2). For many years, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been used in livestock production, as probiotic supplements or as silage preservative by inhibiting pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., fungal and clostridial growth) and increasing lactic acid formation (3,4).…”

Innovations for Reducing Methane Emissions in Livestock toward a Sustainable System: Analysis of Feed Additive Patents in Ruminants

“…Thus, this is referred to as direct in-feed microbials (DFMs), basically live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, have health benefits for the animal. In particular, specific probiotics adopted as DFM include several bacterial and fungal species such as Bacillus , Bifidobacterium , Enterococcus , Lactobacillus , Propionibacterium , Megasphaera elsdenii , Prevotella bryantii , Aspergillus , and Saccharomyces [ 19 ]. However, lactic acid bacteria including Lactobacillus , Bifidobacterium , and Streptococcus , are widely used as probiotic strains in the supplementation of ruminant feed [ 19 ].…”

Impact of dietary Lactobacillus supplementation on intramuscular fat deposition and meat quality of Sunit sheep

“…It was well known that IMF has been shown to affect many aspects of ruminants such as tenderness, meat flavor and antioxidative capacity of muscle (Reuben et al, 2022). Fan et al (2019) suggest that the effects of animal genetics on the gut microbiota structure was associated with fat deposition, which provided a potential capacity for improving IMF.…”