Abstract
This study evaluated the performance, gut microbiota, and blood metabolites in broiler chickens fed cranberry and blueberry products for 30 days. A total of 2,800 male day-old broiler Cobb-500 chicks were randomly distributed between 10 diets: control basal diet; basal diet with bacitracin (BACI); four basal diets with 1 and 2% of cranberry (CP1, CP2) and blueberry (BP1, BP2) pomaces; and four basal diets supplemented with ethanolic extracts of cranberry (COH150, COH300) or blueberry (BOH150, BOH300) pomaces. All groups were composed of seven replicates (40 birds per replicate). Cecal and cloacal samples were collected for bacterial counts and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Blood samples and spleens were analyzed for blood metabolites and gene expressions, respectively. The supplementation of COH300 and BOH300 significantly increased the body weight (BW) during the starting and growing phases, respectively, while COH150 improved (P < 0.05) the overall cumulated feed efficiency (FE) compared to control. The lowest prevalence (P = 0.01) of necrotic enteritis was observed with CP1 and BP1 compared to BACI and control. Cranberry pomace significantly increased the quinic acid level in blood plasma compared to other treatments. At days 21 and 28 of age, the lowest (P < 0.05) levels of triglyceride and alanine aminotransferase were observed in cranberry pomace and blueberry product–fed birds, respectively suggesting that berry feeding influenced the lipid metabolism and serum enzyme levels. The highest relative abundance of Lactobacillaceae was found in ceca of birds fed CP2 (P < 0.05). In the cloaca, BOH300 significantly (P < 0.005) increased the abundances of Acidobacteria and Lactobacillaceae. Actinobacteria showed a significant (P < 0.05) negative correlation with feed intake (FI) and FE in COH300-treated birds, whereas Proteobacteria positively correlated with the BW but negatively correlated with FI and FE, during the growing phase. In the spleen, cranberry products did not induce the release of any pro-inflammatory cytokines but upregulated the expression of several genes (IL4, IL5, CSF2, and HMBS) involved in adaptive immune responses in broilers. This study demonstrated that feed supplementation with berry products could promote the intestinal health by modulating the dynamics of the gut microbiota while influencing the metabolism in broilers.
Highlights
Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens and coccidiosis induced by Eimeria spp. are intestinal diseases that cause important economic losses to poultry production due to productivity losses, cost of treatments, and premature deaths [1]
Analyses of dry matter (DM), total proteins (TP), amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and some of the most common minerals of the feed were performed at the Laboratory of AgroEnvironmental Analysis (Table 2)
No significant difference was found between the control birds and those fed BP1 and BP2, while the lowest body weight (BW) was recorded in the BOH300 treatment
Summary
Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens and coccidiosis induced by Eimeria spp. are intestinal diseases that cause important economic losses to poultry production due to productivity losses, cost of treatments, and premature deaths [1]. Antibiotic-free (raised without antibiotic: RWA) and organic poultry production are increasing in developed countries in response to consumers’ demand for non-conventionally produced food, driven by issues including antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [2]. Such production requires no use of traditional antibiotics in intensive production and/or free-range systems (outdoor access to pasture) in organic production. Efficient and cost-effective methods for maintaining/improving birds’ health, reducing food safety risks (foodborne pathogens), and lessening negative environmental impacts of production are warranted for antibiotic-free poultry production
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