Dietary supplements with an impact on nutrition and health for the poultry industry

Abstract

The poultry industry provides a significant fraction of components to the human diet. For decades, subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics have been used to control intestinal microbial development, prevent infectious diseases, and achieve rapid growth in animals. Given that their use is prohibited in many countries, including Argentina, alternatives to their use have been sought. This has boosted the development of multifunctional probiotic supplements, prebiotics, and their combination (synbiotics). Our research group has isolated several strains of lactic acid bacteria and related genera, which were thoroughly studied both in vitro and in vivo in biotherium or in the field. The numerous beneficial properties of these strains indicate high probability of success in their application at production scale. Our group has also studied prebiotic and synbiotic supplements with promising results in field trials. On the other hand, the microencapsulation of probiotic bacteria to guarantee their survival and thus increase their effectivity is also being studied in our group. Moreover, some beneficial activities for the host do not require viable microorganisms (posbiotics), which opens up new possibilities for the poultry industry in our country.