Combination of Antimicrobial Starters for Feed Fermentation: Influence on Piglet Feces Microbiota and Health and Growth Performance, Including Mycotoxin Biotransformation in vivo

Laurynas Vadopalas; Modestas Ruzauskas; Vita Lele; Vytaute Starkute; Paulina Zavistanaviciute; Egle Zokaityte; Vadims Bartkevics; Iveta Pugajeva; Ingars Reinolds; Sarunas Badaras; Dovile Klupsaite; Erika Mozuriene; Agila Dauksiene; Romas Gruzauskas; Elena Bartkiene

doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.528990

Combination of Antimicrobial Starters for Feed Fermentation: Influence on Piglet Feces Microbiota and Health and Growth Performance, Including Mycotoxin Biotransformation in vivo

Front Vet Sci. 2020 Oct 16:7:528990. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.528990. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Laurynas Vadopalas¹, Modestas Ruzauskas^{2

3}, Vita Lele^{1

4}, Vytaute Starkute^{1

4}, Paulina Zavistanaviciute^{1

4}, Egle Zokaityte^{1

4}, Vadims Bartkevics⁵, Iveta Pugajeva⁵, Ingars Reinolds⁵, Sarunas Badaras¹, Dovile Klupsaite¹, Erika Mozuriene¹, Agila Dauksiene^{1

3}, Romas Gruzauskas⁶, Elena Bartkiene^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Animal Rearing Technologies, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
² Microbiology and Virology Institute, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
³ Department of Physiology and Anatomy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
⁴ Department of Food Safety and Quality, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania.
⁵ Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment BIOR, Riga, Latvia.
⁶ Department of Food Science and Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to apply a combination of the microbial starters Lactobacillus uvarum LUHS245, Lactobacillus casei LUHS210, Pediococcus acidilactici LUHS29, and Pediococcus pentosaceus LUHS183 for feed fermentation and to evaluate the influence of fermentation on feed acidity and microbiological characteristics, as well as on the piglet feces microbiota, health, and growth performance. Additionally, mycotoxin biotransformation was analyzed, including masked mycotoxins, in feed and piglet feces samples. The 36-day experiment was conducted using 25-day-old Large White/Norwegian Landrace (LW/NL) piglets with an initial body weight of 6.9-7.0 kg, which were randomly distributed into two groups (in each 100 piglets): control group, fed with basal diet (based on barley, wheat, potato protein, soybean protein concentrate, and whey powder), and treated group, fed with fermented feed at 500 g kg^-1 of total feed. Compared to a commercially available lactic acid bacteria (LAB) combination, the novel LAB mixture effectively reduced feed pH (on average pH 3.65), produced a 2-fold higher content of L(+) lactic acid, increased viable LAB count [on average 8.8 log₁₀ colony-forming units (CFU) g^-1], and led to stable feed fermentation during the entire test period (36 days). Fecal microbiota analysis showed an increased number of probiotic bacteria in the treated group, particularly Lactobacillus, when compared with the control group at the end of experiment. This finding indicates that fermented feed can modify microbial profile change in the gut of pigs. In treated piglets' blood (at day 61), the serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) were significantly higher, but the levels of T4, glucose, K, alkaline phosphatase (AP), and urea were significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) compared with the control group. Mycotoxin analysis showed that alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) and altenuene were found in 61-day-old control piglets' feces and in fermented feed samples. However, AME was not found in treated piglets' feces. Feed fermentation with the novel LAB combination is a promising means to modulate piglets' microbiota, which is essential to improve nutrient absorption, growth performance, and health parameters. The new LAB composition suggests a novel dietary strategy to positively manipulate fermented feed chemicals and bio-safety and the piglet gut microbial ecology to reduce antimicrobials use in pig production and increase local feed stock uses and economical effectiveness of the process.

Keywords: blood parameters; feed; fermentation; growth performance; microbiota; mycotoxins; piglets.