Impact of probiotic microorganisms on poultry

What is it about?

The increase in the productivity of the poultry industry has been accompanied by various impacts, including the emergence of a large variety of pathogens and bacterial resistance to antibiotics. These impacts are in part due to the haphazard use of chemotherapeutic agents as a result of management practices during the rearing period. Probiotic bacteria are defined as live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. This paper provides a review of the use of probiotics for the prevention of enteric disease in poultry, probiotic selection, isolation, colonisation and attachment within gastrointestinal tract, and the potential role of probiotics in nutrient metabolism. Understanding how probiotic bacteria exert their beneficial effect is crucial for the establishment of definitive selection criteria

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Why is it important?

Probiotics are classified as zootechnical feed additives and comprise a functional nutritional approach, whereby the maintenance of a healthy gastrointestinal environment and improved intestinal function is pursued through the intake of sufficient quantity of live, beneficial microorganisms. The populations of microorganisms found within the GIT. The mechanisms by which the microflora can contribute to intestinal health of poultry include growth promotion, improvement of the mucosal architecture, degradation of non-fermentable substrates into digestible components, improvement of intestinal and general health, breakdown of cytotoxic substances, production of vitamins, suppression of pathogens, competition for nutrients, competition for adhesion sites at the mucosal epithelium, stimulation of intestinal motility, stimulation of the immune system, production of volatile fatty acids and production of antimicrobial substances.

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