Microencapsulation of Lactobacillus plantarum MB001 and its probiotic effect on growth performance, cecal microbiome and gut integrity of broiler chickens in a tropical climate

Abstract

Objective: Microencapsulation technologies have been developed and successfully applied to protect the probiotic bacterial cells damaged by environmental exposure. This study aimed to investigate the effects of microencapsulation of <i>Lactobacillus plantarum</i> MB001 on the growth performance, ileal nutrient digestibility, jejunal histomorphology and cecal microbiome of broiler chickens in a tropical climate.Methods: A total of 288 one-day-old female broilers (Ross 308) were randomly allocated into 4 groups (6 replicates of 12 birds). Treatments included, i) a basal diet (NC), ii) NC + avilamycin (10 mg/kg) (PC), iii) NC + non-encapsulated <i>L. plantarum</i> MB001 (1×10⁸ colonyforming unit [CFU]/kg of diet) (N-LP), iv) NC + microencapsulated <i>L. plantarum</i> MB001 (1×10⁸ CFU/kg of diet) (ME-LP).Results: Dietary supplementation of ME-LP improved average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio of broilers throughout the 42-d trial period (p<0.05), whereas ME-LP did not affect average daily feed intake compared with NC group. Both N-LP and ME-LP improved apparent ileal digestibility of crude protein and ether extract compared with NC group (p<0.05). The broilers fed ME-LP supplemented diet exhibited a beneficial effect on jejunal histomorphology of villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD) and villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH:CD) of broilers compared to NC group (p<0.05). At the phylum level, Firmicutes was enriched (p<0.05) and Proteobacteria was decreased (p<0.05) only in the ME-LP group. At the genus level, the ME-LP diets increased (p<0.05) the number of both <i>Lactobacillus</i> and <i>Enterococcus</i> compared to NC, PC, and N-LP groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: Microencapsulation assists the efficient functioning of probiotics. ME-LP could be potentially used as a feed additive for improvement of cecal microbiota, gut integrity and nutrient utilization, leading to better performance of broilers.