ISSUE FOCUS 22 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE January 2024 “The postbiotics could promote butyric acid producing bacteria directly or through cross-feeding mechanisms, while the essential oil compounds could control harmful bacterial, resulting in higher growth of butyric acid producing bacteria. Overall, the synergistic action of postbiotics and essential oil compounds could accelerate the development of a balanced and resilient mature microbiota in birds leading to improved performance.” USE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND FEED ADDITIVES IN CONNECTING GUT MICROBIOME MATURATION TO BROILER PERFORMANCE Vivek Kuttappan, DVM/PhD Poultry Technology Lead – Postbiotics Cargill Poultry production is forecasted to lead the global meat production by 59% in the next decade to meet consumer needs and ensure global food security (OECD/FAO, 2022). The challenge will be to meet this target in a sustainable way, making the most of limited feed resources and without being overly reliant on antibiotic or chemical compounds. As feed represents the largest cost input in poultry production, optimizing nutrient utilization and digestive efficiency are critical success factors. With 109 to 1011 bacteria/gram of intestinal digesta, the gut microbiome is a complex system with potential impact on gut health and production performance in broilers. Due to that complexity, understanding the changes in the gut microbiome and how we can influence it to adapt to challenges could be overwhelming at times. The use of advanced technologies and interventions, providing practical insights into the gut microbiome analysis of broilers to help improve animal health, performance, and preharvest food safety, can be advantageous in addressing sustainable broiler production. THE CONCEPT OF GUT MICROBIOME MATURATION Considering the complexity of the gut microbiome and the associated variations, it is important to establish the key attributes of a healthy gut microbiome. Extensive analysis of gut microbiome in broilers from field trials, as well as control research trials, were conducted using a non-invasive advanced microarray tool coupled with artificial intelligence – Galleon™ Microbiome Intelligence – to identify biomarkers for performance, preharvest food safety, harmful bacteria, etc. Results revealed that the broiler gut microbiome undergoes a maturation process from a simple to a more diverse microbial population (Figure 1). During the first week of age, the poultry gut microbiome primarily contains lactate producing bacteria (Lactobacillaceae, Streptococcaceae etc.). The short chain fatty acid (SCFA) producing bacteria (Lachnospiraceae, Ruminococcaceae etc.) uses lactate as a substrate, and thus there is a cross-feeding mechanism between the groups. As a result, the SCFA-producing bacteria increases in abundance later and produces SCFA such as butyric
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==