Abstract
Intestinal dysfunction of farm animals, such as intestinal inflammation and altered gut microbiota, is the critical problem affecting animal welfare, performance and farm profitability. China has prohibited the use of antibiotics to improve feed efficiency and growth performance for farm animals, including poultry, in 2020. With the advantages of maintaining gut homeostasis, enhancing digestion, and absorption and modulating gut microbiota, organic acids are regarded as promising antibiotic alternatives. Butyric and citric acids as presentative organic acids positively impact growth performance, welfare, and intestinal health of livestock mainly by reducing pathogenic bacteria and maintaining the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) pH. This review summarizes the discovery of butyric acid (BA), citric acid (CA) and their salt forms, molecular structure and properties, metabolism, biological functions and their applications in poultry nutrition. The research findings about BA, CA and their salts on rats, pigs and humans are also briefly reviewed. Therefore, this review will fill the knowledge gaps of the scientific community and may be of great interest for poultry nutritionists, researchers and feed manufacturers about these two weak organic acids and their effects on intestinal health and gut microbiota community, with the hope of providing safe, healthy and nutrient-rich poultry products to consumers.
Highlights
IntroductionOrganic acids are weak acids having a carboxylic acid group (R-COOH), intermediates in the degradation pathways of carbohydrates, amino acids and fats, and are used as nutritional value and antimicrobial effects in animal feeds [1,2,3]
Organic acids are weak acids having a carboxylic acid group (R-COOH), intermediates in the degradation pathways of carbohydrates, amino acids and fats, and are used as nutritional value and antimicrobial effects in animal feeds [1,2,3].The use of organic acids in animal feeds started many years ago due to the ban on the use of antibiotics [4]
The results showed that n-butyric acid and 50% MB could be used to control Salmonella Typhimurium or Clostridium perfringens in poultry [114]
Summary
Organic acids are weak acids having a carboxylic acid group (R-COOH), intermediates in the degradation pathways of carbohydrates, amino acids and fats, and are used as nutritional value and antimicrobial effects in animal feeds [1,2,3]. Various literatures reveal that antibiotics have better positive effects in modulating metabolism, improving weight gain, feed efficiency and controlling diseases in poultry production [7,8] Their continued use in animal nutrition developed antibiotic resistance and drug residues, which resulted in global public health issues and exacerbating poverty in the 21st century [9,10,11]. BA as a short chain fatty acid (SCFA) and CA as a tricarboxylic acid (TCA) gained considerable attention as representative organic acids in poultry production They are used as an energy source of prime enterocytes [14] or for the bactericidal efficacy against harmful species (for example, Escherichia coli) and the enhanced bone mineralization and improved function of gut microorganisms [15,16,17]. The demand for commercially produced BA and CA acidifiers have increased worldwide [57,58,59]
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