Effect of Bacillus subtilis on growth performance, bone mineralization, and bacterial population of broilers fed with different protein sources

The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of Bacillus subtilis (BS), ATCC 6051a strain, as a probiotic bacterium in broiler diets based of 2 protein sources (soybean meal [SBM] and cowpea seeds [CWP]), on growth performance (GP), carcass traits, bone mineralization, and microflora population (0 to 42 d age). The SBM and CWP starter, grower, and finisher diets were tested in the presence or absence of BS (5.0 × 10¹¹ CFU spores g⁻¹ feed) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments in a completely randomized design. Broilers were randomly assigned to 4 dietary treatments with 6 replicate pens per treatment (20 chicks per pen). The results showed that broilers fed CWP had comparable GP (body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio) to the birds fed the SBM diet. Carcass, breast and legs' yield, organ size (i.e., gizzard, liver, pancreas, small intestine, cecum), and bone development were not affected by the protein source. The addition of BS in both types of diet improved BWG (P < 0.001) and feed efficiency, especially in the grower and finisher period (P = 0.047; P = 0.043, respectively). In addition, BS significantly decreased abdominal fat (P = 0.026) and cecum weight (P = 0.034) and increased tibia bone P concentration (P = 0.015). Furthermore, BS decrease cecal pH (P = 0.010) and reduced Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus spp. from cecum and excreta broilers (P < 0.001; P < 0.0001, respectively). It is concluded that the BS significantly improved the GP of broilers and can beneficially affect the gut and excreta bacterial community in both SBM and CWP diets.

The effects of organic chromium on adipose anatomical parts, using pig as experimental model

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of chromium supplements on the quality of protein and lipids of adipose anatomical parts using pig as experimental modelfor humans. An experiment was conducted on 18 fattening castrated TOPIGS male pigs, for 4 weeks, under experimental farm conditions. The source of Cr(III) was chromium . picolinate, a food supplement used in human nutrition, 200 µg.Cr per kg diet (El) and 400 µg.Cr per kg diet (E2). The analytic.data showed an improvement of the amino acids profile in belly and in ham samples. A significant decrease of fatty acids concentrations in belly samples was noticed. In conclusion, we observed a positive effect associated with the essential amino acids deposition and decreasing of fatty acids concentrations in tissues with high content offat, thus in human nutrition, chromium is used as a nutritional supplement most recommended in impaired carbohydrate metabolism.