Back to Search
Start Over
Gut antibacterial effects of C7 and C9 carboxylic acids in the diet of piglets
- Source :
- Journal of Animal Science. 94:54-57
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press (OUP), 2016.
-
Abstract
- The antibacterial effects of odd-numbered medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), such as C7 and C9 carboxylic acids, are poorly described and, hence, their potential as a feed additive for weaned piglets has not been explored. First, the antimicrobial activity was tested in in vitro incubations simulating the digestion in the stomach (pH 3), duodenum (pH 5), and ileum (pH 7) at 0, 17.5, 35.0, and 70.0 mmol/L carboxylate and compared with even-numbered MCFA. All compounds showed a significant reduction of analyzed bacterial counts compared with the control, in many cases >2 log reduction up to complete disappearance, depending on pH and dose. At pH 3 and 5, C6 through C9 carboxylic acids were equally effective against coliforms, whereas C10 was less effective. The activity against lactobacilli and streptococci was higher at the lower pH and increased with chain length. The antimicrobial effects of C7 and C9 carboxylic acids were, in most cases, in between or, in one case, better than that of their respective neighboring even-numbered MCFA. Next, an equal mixture of C7 and C9 carboxylic acid was fed to weaned piglets at 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4% carboxylic acids in the diet for 42 d (8 pen replicates with 6 pigs each). At d 13/14, 1 piglet per pen was sampled to determine major gastric and proximal and distal small intestinal bacterial groups and histomorphological characteristics. Numerical improvements of animal performance for all supplemented diets were observed (P > 0.05) and this corroborated with a trend for longer villi in the proximal small intestine (P = 0.082). The highest dose tended to reduce streptococci in the stomach contents (P = 0.079). In vitro, C7 and C9 carboxylic acids demonstrated clear and significant antibacterial effects against the major bacterial groups in the stomach and small intestine. In the postweaning performance trial, they showed potential to ameliorate performance.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
chemistry.chemical_classification
030109 nutrition & dietetics
Carboxylic acid
Stomach
Feed additive
0402 animal and dairy science
Ileum
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
General Medicine
Biology
Antimicrobial
040201 dairy & animal science
Small intestine
03 medical and health sciences
medicine.anatomical_structure
chemistry
Biochemistry
Genetics
Duodenum
medicine
Animal Science and Zoology
Food science
Digestion
Food Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15253163 and 00218812
- Volume :
- 94
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Animal Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........2cbb15708069e4de46a903c15b19fa9a